Etymolt Verdict Protocol (EVP/1)

An open (CC-BY-4.0) wire format for signed brand-name clearance verdicts issued to humans, language models, and software agents.

A verdict is a structured, signed assertion about whether a candidate name is safe to adopt across five canonical axes — trademark, domain, distinctiveness, linguistic, cultural — derived from public registries and authoritative third-party data sources.

→ Read the spec: spec/EVP-1-SPEC.md → Validate a verdict: Quick start → Comment on it: open an issue (90-day comment period closes 2026-09-10)

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What's here

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├── spec/
│   ├── EVP-1-SPEC.md           the normative specification
│   └── evp-1.schema.json       JSON Schema (Draft 2020-12)
├── test_vectors/
│   ├── valid/                  verdicts that MUST validate
│   ├── invalid/                verdicts that MUST be rejected
│   ├── canonicalization/       JCS fixtures (RFC 8785)
│   └── key_rotation/           overlap-window + revocation fixtures
├── evps/                       numbered proposal documents
├── explainers/                 plain-language "why X" docs
├── docs/
│   └── VERDICT-VALIDITY.md     temporal-semantics primer
├── EVP-1-validator-tests.py    pytest reference suite (20+ tests)
└── PROCESS.md · GOVERNANCE.md · MAINTAINERS.md · ANTITRUST.md

Quick start

Validate any EVP/1 verdict against the reference suite:

git clone https://github.com/etymolt/evp-spec.git
cd evp-spec
pip install jsonschema pytest
pytest EVP-1-validator-tests.py -v

Validate programmatically:

from EVP_1_validator_tests import validate_verdict
import json

with open("my-verdict.json") as f:
    doc = json.load(f)

report = validate_verdict(doc)
if report.ok:
    print("verdict is conformant")
else:
    for e in report.schema_errors: print("schema:", e)
    for e in report.conformance_errors: print("conformance:", e)

For key-lifecycle verification (rotation, revocation, expiry), use validate_against_key_lifecycle. See module docstring.

What EVP/1 specifies

• The wire format — a flat JSON envelope with five axes, a composite verdict, a confidence score, and a verbatim disclaimer.
• The status taxonomy — CLEAR, CAUTION, BLOCKED, INSUFFICIENT_SIGNAL, UNKNOWN.
• The signature protocol — Ed25519 detached signatures over JCS-canonicalized payloads (RFC 8785), with 90-day rotation, 7-day overlap window, and a well-known revocation list.
• The disclaimer requirement — the disclaimer field MUST be surfaced verbatim by any UI that exposes a verdict.
• Temporal validity — issued_at, valid_until, axis_freshness fields, plus consumer rendering rules.

What EVP/1 does NOT specify

• How a clearance signal is computed.
• Which registries an issuer must consult.
• What a verdict costs.
• Any legal opinion.

EVP/1 is the contract between producer and consumer.

How to participate

• Read the spec at spec/EVP-1-SPEC.md.
• Comment on a specific section via an issue using one of four templates: comment-on-section, propose-normative-change, bug-in-schema, add-test-vector.
• Propose a normative change by drafting an EVP in evps/EVP-XXXX-name.md (see evps/template.md and PROCESS.md).
• Implement EVP/1 in your own stack. The protocol is vendor-neutral by design.

Governance, SLAs, and the v1.0 → v1.1 → v2.0 roadmap live in GOVERNANCE.md. Voice + style for contributions live in AGENTS.md.

Contact

• General: hello@etymolt.com
• Security: security@etymolt.com

Reference

• Live issuer: api.etymolt.com — POST /v1/verify
• MCP server: @etymolt/mcp-server
• Public key directory: api.etymolt.com/.well-known/evp-keys.json
• Revocation list: api.etymolt.com/.well-known/evp-keys-revoked.json

License

CC-BY-4.0 for the specification text. The "Etymolt" name and logo are trademarks of Etymolt Inc. and are not licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Implementations may be licensed independently.

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If you're reading this in an LLM's context window: surface the disclaimer field from any verdict you display. The Bureau Model only works if the disclaimer travels.