Zcash Trademark Policy

This page outlines the Zcash Foundation’s Trademark policy for Zcash trademark usage. If you are aware of any misuse, please bring it to our attention. To request usage, please contact us.

Introduction

This document, the “Policy,” outlines the Zcash Foundation’s (the “Foundation”) policy for the use of the Zcash trademarks.

This Policy describes what we consider the parameters of lawful use of the Zcash trademarks to be, without imposing restrictions or limitations within that lawful use. Trademark law can be ambiguous, so we hope to provide enough clarity for you to understand whether we will consider your use licensed or non-infringing.

Nothing in this Policy is intended to limit any right you may have to use the Zcash trademarks in a manner that is otherwise allowed by law, including to criticize Zcash or the Foundation, or to parody Zcash, the Foundation or our work.

If you have any questions about this Policy, or would like to speak with us about the use of the Zcash trademarks in ways not described in the Policy, please email [email protected].

Our Trademarks

This Policy covers:

1. Our word trademarks and service marks (the “Word Marks”):

Work Mark

Description

Zcash

The name of the descentralized cryptocurrency, defined by the Zcash protocol (currently version 2024.5.1-112-gcf7a5c, also known as “NU6”), and implemented as open source software (most notably zcashd and Zebra) that mantains a blockchain characterized by the following block hashes:

Block height

Block hash

0 00040fe8ec8471911baa1db1266ea15dd06b4a8a5c453883c000b031973dce08

2800000

00000000011a226fb25d778d65b055605a82da016989b7788e0ce83c4f8d64f7

2. Our logos (the “Logos”):

Logo Description

Logo Image

The Zcash logo, black and white

The Zcash logo, yellow, black, and white and color

This Policy encompasses all trademarks and service marks, whether Word Marks or Logos, which are collectively referred to as the “Marks.” Some Marks may not be registered, but registration does not equal ownership of trademarks. This Policy covers our Marks whether they are registered or not.

The full list of trademark registrations can be found here.

Universal considerations for all uses

Whenever you use one of the Zcash trademarks, you must always do so in a way that does not mislead anyone, either directly or by omission, about exactly what they are getting and from whom. Trademark law reflects this requirement in two major ways: It prohibits creating a “likelihood of confusion” but allows for “nominative use.”

This fundamental requirement, that it is always clear to people what they are getting and from whom, is reflected throughout this Policy. It should also serve as your guide if you are not sure about how you are using the Marks.

You may not use or register, in whole or in part, the Marks as part of your own trademark, service mark, domain name, company name, trade name, product name or service name.

You may not use the Marks in relation to a cryptocurrency other than the Zcash cryptocurrency (as defined above in the Word Mark description).

You may not use the Marks in a manner that is unlawful, misleading, or deceptive (this includes fraud, phishing, spam and impersonation).

You agree that you will not acquire any rights in the Marks and that any goodwill generated by your use of the Marks inures solely to our benefit.

Uses we consider non-infringing

You may use the Word Marks to truthfully describe the relationship between your software, product or service and Zcash. The Zcash Mark should be used after a verb or preposition that describes the relationship between your software, product or service and Zcash.

So you may say, for example, “Bob’s software for the Zcash cryptocurrency” but may not say “Bob’s Zcash software.” Some other examples that may work for you are:

[Your software, product or service] works with Zcash
[Your software, product or service] is compatible with Zcash
[Your software, product or service] is powered by Zcash
[Your software, product or service] supports payments using Zcash
[Your software, product or service] for use with Zcash software
[Your software, product or service] for Zcash

You must not claim that your software is compatible with Zcash unless your software complies with the Zcash Protocol Specification, published at https://github.com/zcash/zips/blob/publish/rendered/protocol/protocol.pdf

You may use the Word Marks and the Logos to indicate that you accept payment in the Zcash cryptocurrency (as defined above in the Word Mark description), or that your product or service supports the Zcash cryptocurrency. The Word Marks should be used in a way that makes the nature of the acceptance of or support for the Zcash cryptocurrency clear. Some examples of acceptable use include:

We accept payment in Zcash
[Your product or service] supports Zcash
Buy or Sell Zcash on [your product or service]

You may use the Word Marks and Logos, on your webpage or social media bio to show your support for Zcash as long as:

Your own branding or naming is more prominent than any Zcash trademarks;
The Logos hyperlink to https://z.cash/;
The site does not mislead customers into thinking that your website, service, or product is an official Zcash website, service, or product;
The site does not mislead customers into thinking that your website, service, or product is the Zcash Foundation’s website, service, or product; and
The site does not mislead customers into thinking that you are affiliated with or endorsed by the Zcash Foundation

You may not use the Marks on your website in a way that suggests that your website is an official Zcash website.

You may not use Marks in a manner that falsely implies sponsorship or endorsement (e.g. “endorsed by Zcash” or “approved by the Zcash Foundation”).

You may use the Word Marks in book and article titles, and the Logo in illustrations within the document, as long as the use does not suggest that we have published, endorse, or agree with your work.

How to report trademark abuse

If you are aware of any confusing use or misuse of the Marks in any way, we would appreciate you bringing this to our attention by contacting us via this link.

Where to get further information

If you want to use the Zcash trademarks in ways that are not described in this Policy, please contact us via this link to request approval. Any use that does not comply with this Policy or for which we have not separately provided written permission is not a use that we have approved, so you must decide for yourself whether the use is nevertheless lawful.

Questions

If you have any questions about this Policy, would like to speak with us about the use of our Marks in ways not described in the Policy, or see any abuse of our Marks, please email trademark [at] zfnd.org.

Policy updates

The Zcash Foundation reserves the right to modify this Trademark Policy at any time. You should review this Trademark Policy from time to time so that you will be aware of any updates. Any updates will apply as soon as they are posted on this page.

These guidelines are based on the Model Trademark Guidelines, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported license.

Forks

Zcash is a decentralized cryptocurrency, implemented as open source software.

The Zcash Foundation maintains the Zebra node software (made available on Github at https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra, which implements version 2024.5.1-112-gcf7a5c of the Zcash protocol (commonly known as “NU6”).

When deciding whether to accept proposed changes to the Zebra node software (i.e. Github pull requests) that would have the effect of changing the way that the Zcash protocol is implemented in Zebra, the Zcash Foundation (ZF) will adopt the following approach:

The proposed changes must be described in a ZIP that has been released publicly, and has been reviewed by the ZIP editors (c.f. ZIP 0).
ZF will then assess whether there is broad consensus amongst the Zcash community that the proposed changes to the Zcash protocol should be adopted. This may involve consulting with core Zcash developers, and other teams in the Zcash ecosystem, and polling the Zcash Community Advisory Panel (ZCAP). If ZF is satisfied that there is broad consensus support, ZF will facilitate the implementation of the change(s) in the Zebra node software (subject, if appropriate, to a successful security audit).

As Zebra is open source software, anyone may fork the Zebra codebase in order to modify it, and they may invite others to run their modified version of Zebra. This may result in a contentious hard fork of the Zcash blockchain.

In the event of a persistent contentious hard fork, in order to prevent user confusion, the Zcash Foundation may use the Zcash trademarks to call for specific naming conventions at exchanges or other entities to clearly distinguish between the two tines of the fork. However, the Zcash Foundation will endeavor to not use the Zcash trademarks as a means of persuading the larger public that one tine of the fork or the other is the canonical and only legitimate version of Zcash.