Intellectual
Property
Patent and trademark portfolio for Hive Civilization. Three provisionals as of May 3, 2026.
Three Provisional Applications
We filed these with the USPTO under 35 U.S.C. §111(b). The 12-month priority windows are active. If you redistribute our unmodified release files, the Apache 2.0 §3 patent grant covers you.
| Application # | Title | Filed | Inventors | Claim Summary | Priority Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64/055,601 | HiveChroma | May 2, 2026 | Steve Rotzin | 8 inventions covering color-anchored notarized provenance. Spectral binding of agent identity to cryptographic receipt chain. | May 2, 2026 | Provisional Filed |
| 64/[VIP-pending] | Verifiable Pre-Commitment (VIP) | May 3, 2026 | Steve Rotzin | Receipt-layer commitment scheme for agent intent. Cryptographic pre-commitment before execution, with post-execution proof binding. | May 3, 2026 | Provisional Filed |
| 64/[Caste-pending] | Hive Caste System | May 3, 2026 | Steve Rotzin | Caste-typed authorization graph for autonomous agents. L4 caste enforcement with signed role boundaries per agent morph. | May 3, 2026 | Provisional Filed |
We filed Provisional 2 (VIP) and Provisional 3 (HiveCaste) on May 3, 2026. The claim language stays covered by the Apache 2.0 grant. Application numbers for VIP and Caste are still waiting on USPTO acknowledgment.
Common-Law and USPTO Marks
We hold common-law trademark rights through first use in commerce. USPTO TEAS Plus filings are in the works for federal registration.
| Mark | Class / Goods & Services | First Use / Priority | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tre'gent™ | Class 42: AI software infrastructure; agent identity and receipt systems | May 3, 2026 | Common-law ™ USPTO TEAS Plus filing in preparation |
| HiveChroma™ | Class 42: Color-anchored cryptographic provenance systems | May 2, 2026 | Common-law ™ |
| HiveBound™ | Class 42: Agent authorization binding and enforcement systems | May 3, 2026 | Common-law ™ |
| Hive Civilization™ | Class 42: Agent-to-agent infrastructure platform; AI commerce and identity systems | 2026 | Common-law ™ |
What Each Patent Actually Protects
Each provisional filing maps to specific endpoints and product features you can see live today.
64/055,601
Provisional 2
Provisional 3
What's Open Source, and What's Not
Apache 2.0 Grant
We publish our reference crates and verifier tools under the Apache License 2.0. If you redistribute our unmodified release files, the Apache 2.0 §3 patent grant covers you: you get a permanent, royalty-free, non-exclusive patent license for any claim those files would otherwise infringe.
Production deployments are a different story. If you're building on top of Hive infrastructure in production, you need a separate commercial license. Email sales@thehiveryiq.com and we'll talk it through.
Covered under Apache 2.0: the hive-passport-verifier, the hivedrops reference crate, and the smsh.prov verifier. Using our production endpoints commercially still needs its own license.
C2PA Prior-Art Review
We finished the PRE_FILING_GATE_C2PA.md gate on May 2, 2026, and read the full C2PA 2.x manifest specification. Here's how Tre'gent™'s three-witness binding is different from C2PA's model: C2PA proves where something came from after the fact, by chaining manifests. Tre'gent™ ties three independent witnesses to a commitment that gets sealed with cryptography before the agent even acts. HiveChroma's claim scope (64/055,601) doesn't overlap with C2PA 2.x claims.
See tregent.html for the full technical breakdown against C2PA, W3C DID, and IETF RFC 8785 JCS prior art.