Apache Trademark MCP

This repo contains a small dependency-free MCP server for the three main ASF trademark jobs:

1. Naming new projects — validate proposed Apache project / podling names against trademark policy.
2. Auditing project websites — check that an ASF project page follows the Project Branding Requirements.
3. Auditing third-party use — check that an external site using Apache marks follows ASF Trademark Policy.

For naming, it automates the parts of the PODLINGNAMESEARCH process that can be automated and produces a ready-to-paste JIRA ticket body for the parts that cannot.

It reports facts only — the final "confusingly similar" judgement is made by trademarks@apache.org and the VP, Brand Management.

The server exposes MCP tools for:

• validating a proposed name against reserved ASF marks, Native American name restrictions, format rules, and the live ASF committees + podlings list
• fuzzy-searching the ASF project list
• returning the structured ASF naming policy
• returning the branding compliance checklist for podling, graduation, or TLP stages
• returning focused guidance on specific trademark topics (domain names, nominative use, powered-by, etc.)
• running the GitHub / PyPI / npm searches required by the PODLINGNAMESEARCH process and producing a pre-filled JIRA ticket body
• forcing a fresh fetch of the ASF project list
• auditing an Apache project's homepage for compliance with the Project Branding Requirements (apache.org hosting, Apache-form heading, TM/(R) on first use, footer attribution, required navigation links, and incubation disclaimers for podlings)
• auditing a third-party page for ASF trademark policy compliance (domain misuse, branding form, non-affiliation disclaimer, logo misuse, and credit link)

Pairing with the ASF Policy MCP

This server is self-contained — it fetches the live policy pages from apache.org and bakes the rule checks into structured findings. For the full canonical policy text (the actual paragraphs from apache.org/foundation/marks/), pair it with the asf-policy MCP. The compliance tools include policy_references.tip pointing to the relevant Policy MCP keys (branding, podling_branding, trademark_policy, domain_name_branding).

Install

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python3 -m pip install .

For local development:

make install-dev

Run

trademark-mcp --cache-dir /path/to/cache

The server uses stdio, so it is intended to be launched by an MCP client. The --cache-dir flag is optional — it defaults to ~/.cache/apache-trademark-mcp.

For local development without installing first, you can still launch the stdio server directly:

python3 server.py

The package also keeps apache-trademark-mcp as a backwards-compatible command alias.

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json and add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apache-trademark": {
      "command": "trademark-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Then restart Claude Desktop. If you installed into a virtual environment that is not on your PATH, use the absolute path to that environment's trademark-mcp command.

MCP tools

validate_name Validates a proposed name against the reserved ASF marks, Native American restrictions, format rules, and the live ASF committees + podlings list, and returns a structured PASS / WARN / FAIL verdict along with the full PODLINGNAMESEARCH process the proposer still needs to complete.

search_asf_projects Fuzzy-searches the ASF project list for names similar to a query string, with a tunable similarity threshold.

get_naming_policy Returns the structured ASF naming-policy summary, including required rules, strong recommendations, and the podling name-search process.

get_branding_checklist Returns the branding compliance checklist for a given lifecycle stage (podling, graduation, or tlp).

get_policy_guidance Returns focused ASF trademark policy guidance for a specific topic (domain_names, third_party_use, powered_by, nominative_use, confusion_test, podling_naming, event_naming, logo_use, books_articles).

perform_name_search Runs the GitHub / PyPI / npm name lookups required by the PODLINGNAMESEARCH process, in parallel, and returns a pre-filled JIRA ticket body plus the USPTO search URL ready to open in a browser.

refresh_project_cache Forces a fresh fetch of the ASF project list from projects.apache.org.

check_project_website Fetches an Apache project homepage and reports compliance with the Project Branding Requirements: apache.org hosting, Apache-form heading, TM/(R) on first prominent occurrence, footer trademark attribution, required navigation links (License, Sponsorship, Thanks, Security, Privacy), prominent link back to www.apache.org, third-party trademark acknowledgement, logo TM, and — when stage="podling" — the incubation DISCLAIMER text and (Incubating) suffix. Each finding cites the relevant policy URL.

check_third_party_use Fetches a third-party page and reports whether it follows ASF Trademark Policy for using Apache marks: domain misuse (bare Apache names as second-level domains, apache in the domain), approved branding form (Powered By Apache Foo / Apache Foo Inside), non-affiliation disclaimer, logo misuse (feather mark or unmodified project logos as primary brand), and credit link back to the upstream project. Each finding cites the relevant policy URL.

Usage Examples

These examples show the kinds of questions a user can ask an MCP client connected to this server.

Checking A Proposed Name

• "Validate the proposed Apache podling name 'Stratus'."
• "Is 'Cherokee' a valid podling name?"
• "Check whether 'Apache Foo' would pass the policy checks for a new podling."
• "I want to propose a streaming database project called 'Cascade'. Run validation."

Exploring Conflicts

• "Search the ASF project list for names similar to 'arrow'."
• "Are there any existing ASF projects whose name is similar to 'spark'?"
• "Show me ASF projects whose names look anything like 'kafka' with a similarity threshold of 0.4."

Reading The Policy

• "Summarize ASF naming policy for a podling."
• "What does ASF policy say about Native American names?"
• "What is the 'Powered By Apache' naming convention?"
• "Explain ASF's nominative-use rules."
• "What's the likelihood-of-confusion test in trademark law as applied by the ASF?"

Branding Compliance

• "Give me the branding checklist for a podling preparing to graduate."
• "What does a top-level Apache project need on its homepage for trademark compliance?"
• "What incubation disclaimers does a podling need in release artifacts?"

Running The Name Search

• "Run the PODLINGNAMESEARCH searches for 'Stratus' and give me a JIRA ticket I can paste."
• "I'm proposing a metadata catalog called 'Atlas'. Run the name search."
• "Search GitHub, PyPI, and npm for 'Foo' and give me the USPTO link."

Auditing An ASF Project Website

• "Audit https://kafka.apache.org/ for trademark compliance."
• "Check whether https://foo.apache.org/ has the required navigation links and trademark attribution."
• "Run the podling-stage branding audit on https://newpodling.apache.org/."
• "Does my project homepage include TM next to the first 'Apache Foo' reference?"

Auditing Third-Party Use

• "Is https://yoyodyne.com/yoyostream using Apache Foo marks correctly?"
• "Check whether https://kafka.com/ violates ASF trademark policy."
• "Does this vendor page have a non-affiliation disclaimer and the right 'Powered By' form?"
• "Audit https://example.com/ for misuse of the Apache feather logo."

Development

Common tasks are available through make:

make format
make lint
make typecheck
make test
make coverage
make check

Notes

• This server reports facts only. It does not opine on whether a name is "confusingly similar" — that is a legal judgement made by trademarks@apache.org and the VP, Brand Management.
• A PASS verdict from validate_name does not mean the name is approved. The full PODLINGNAMESEARCH process — internet search, USPTO search, JIRA ticket, VP Brand Management approval — is still required.
• All HTTP calls are made through the Python standard library; the package has no runtime dependencies.

TrademarkMCP is an independent tool and is not a project of the Apache Software Foundation. Apache and related marks are trademarks of The Apache Software Foundation.