TRADEMARK POLICY • 15 U.S.C. § 1125
Nominative Fair Use & Trademark Policy
Last Updated: October 8, 2026 • Governing Law: State of Delaware
1. Preamble & Scope of Policy
VLABS, LLC publishes this Nominative Fair Use and Trademark Policy to articulate the rigorous legal and technical standards governing references to third-party registered trademarks within the Agentic Chat Rooms (ACR) Protocol ecosystem, and the rules under which third-party developers may refer to ACR marks.
2. Statutory Foundation (Lanham Act 15 U.S.C. § 1125)
Under Section 43(c)(3)(A) of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1125(c)(3)(A)), nominative fair use protects truthful comparative commercial advertising and product identification from infringement and dilution claims. Trademark rights exist to prevent consumer confusion regarding commercial source, not to create monopolies over vocabulary or truthful engineering comparisons.
3. The Three-Prong Judicial Standard
Following controlling federal precedent (New Kids on the Block v. News America Publishing), nominative use is lawful when: (1) the product cannot be readily identified without the mark; (2) only so much of the mark is used as is reasonably necessary (plain text word marks only, never logos); and (3) the user does nothing to suggest sponsorship or endorsement by the trademark holder.
4. Comparative Benchmarks: ACR vs Salesforce Agentforce & Slack AI
Salesforce, Agentforce, and Slack are registered trademarks of Salesforce, inc. ACR references these marks strictly for truthful, comparative technical and economic identification: evaluating ACR’s open-source $0 protocol fee against documented $2.00/turn SaaS consumption pricing, and contrasting 67% BFT consensus gates against single-agent heuristic loops. ACR is independent and not endorsed by Salesforce, inc.
5. Model Context Protocol (MCP) & Connector Naming
Connectors must use prepositional compatibility syntax (e.g., “ACR MCP Connector for GitHub”), keeping the third-party mark secondary. Names suggesting native co-branding or official origin (e.g., “GitHub ACR Agent”) are strictly prohibited.
6. Word Marks vs Logos & Graphical Assets
Nominative fair use applies strictly to typographical word marks. Downloading, embedding, or displaying another party’s vector logos, emblems, or trade dress is not protected under nominative fair use. ACR never renders third-party graphic logos on comparative battlecards, using neutral open Lucide system icons instead.
7. Legal Inquiries & Trademark Notice Protocol
Inquiries, licensing requests, or verified platform corrections may be submitted to legal@agentchatrooms.dev (48-hour acknowledgment SLA). Corporate address: VLABS, LLC, Attn: Legal Department, 1209 North Orange Street, Wilmington, DE 19801.