# Since Labs trademark and brand asset policy

**Effective 28 August 2026. Version 1.0.**

This policy governs the Since Labs name, the `//` mark, the Since Labs
wordmark, and every logo file in this repository. It is the whole of the
permission we give. If a use is not described here as permitted, assume it is
not permitted and [ask us](#9-contact).

---

## 1. What this covers

The **Since Labs Brand Assets** are:

- the word marks **Since Labs** and **Since**, in any styling;
- the **`//` mark** (the double slash), in any colour or lockup;
- the **Since Labs wordmark** — the mark set with the words "Since Labs", in
  horizontal or stacked form, in every colour variant;
- every file under [`assets/logo/`](assets/logo/), including the raw masters in
  `assets/logo/source/`, the rendered PNGs, and the downloadable kit;
- the trade dress of the Since Labs identity: the paper-and-terracotta palette
  applied together with the marks above in a way that imitates our surfaces.

Referred to below as "the Brand Assets".

## 2. Ownership

The Brand Assets are owned by **Since Labs** and are protected by trademark,
copyright and unfair competition law. Nothing in this repository transfers
ownership of them, and nothing in it grants a trademark licence beyond the
limited permission in § 3.

Publishing the Brand Assets here is so that people who are **entitled** to use
them can use them **correctly**. Public availability is not a licence, an
abandonment, or a dedication to the public domain.

## 3. What you may do without asking

You may use the Brand Assets, unmodified and in line with
[`docs/03-logo.md`](docs/03-logo.md), to:

- **Refer to Since Labs** in news reporting, commentary, research, reviews,
  academic work and other nominative or descriptive uses.
- **Show that you integrate with, build on, or are a customer of Since Labs** —
  for example "Works with Since Labs" or "Built on Since Labs" — provided the
  statement is true and your own brand is more prominent than ours.
- **Illustrate a partnership or engagement** we have publicly confirmed.
- **Build Since Labs surfaces**, if you are an employee, contractor or agency
  working for Since Labs on Since Labs' instructions.

In each case: use a current, unmodified file from this repository, keep the
clear space in [`docs/03-logo.md § 3.3`](docs/03-logo.md), and stay above the
minimum sizes.

## 4. What you may not do

Without our prior written permission, you may not:

- **Alter the Brand Assets.** No recolouring outside the sanctioned rows of
  [`docs/03-logo.md § 3.5`](docs/03-logo.md), no rotation, skew, stretching,
  shadow, glow, outline, gradient, animation, or redrawing.
- **Use them as your own.** Not in your product name, company name, logo, app
  icon, domain, social handle, or as any part of a mark you file or claim.
- **Imply endorsement, affiliation, sponsorship or certification** we have not
  given in writing.
- **Put them on merchandise or physical goods for sale.**
- **Use them in a way that suggests our involvement in your output** — including
  labelling AI-generated work, datasets, models, agents or automations as coming
  from, verified by, or approved by Since Labs.
- **Register, file, or claim** the Brand Assets or anything confusingly similar,
  in any jurisdiction, in any class.
- **Use them in connection with** unlawful activity, or with material that is
  deceptive, defamatory, or intended to disparage Since Labs.
- **Use the trade dress as a whole** to make a surface that could be mistaken for
  an official Since Labs one.

## 5. Machine-readable use, AI training and agents

The Brand Assets are published in machine-readable form
([`/brand.json`](https://brand.sincelabs.com/brand.json),
[`/llms.txt`](https://brand.sincelabs.com/llms.txt)) so that
software agents can **apply the brand correctly on behalf of someone who is
already permitted to use it** under § 3.

That publication is not permission to do anything § 4 forbids, and the limits
apply identically whether a human or a model performs the act. Specifically:

- **Reading is fine.** Retrieving, indexing, citing and quoting this repository
  and the guide site is permitted, with attribution.
- **Reproducing the marks is governed by § 3 and § 4.** A model that emits a
  Since Labs logo into someone's deck is making the same use a designer would,
  and it is permitted or not on the same terms.
- **Generating variants of the marks is not permitted.** § 4's bar on alteration
  covers synthesised, restyled, upscaled, re-drawn and "inspired by" versions.
- **Training a generative model to reproduce or imitate the Brand Assets** — as
  distinct from general-purpose training over public web content — requires our
  written permission.
- **Do not present generated output as approved by Since Labs.** An agent
  following this guide is following a document, not acting for us.

The design tokens in [`tokens/`](tokens/) and the written guidance in
[`docs/`](docs/) are, deliberately, a much more open thing than the marks. See
§ 7.

## 6. No warranty

The Brand Assets and the guidance in this repository are provided **"as is"**,
without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of
merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or
non-infringement. Since Labs is not liable for any claim, damage or other
liability arising from your use of them.

Colour values, contrast ratios and accessibility statements in this repository
are given in good faith and are checked in CI, but **they are not a compliance
certification**. If you ship a regulated or accessibility-critical surface, test
it yourself.

Any third-party typeface named in this guide — Lora, DM Sans, Geist Mono — is
the property of its own authors and licensed under its own terms. We do not
sublicense them. Fetch them from their source and read that licence.

## 7. What is *not* restricted by this policy

This policy is about the **marks**. It is not about the thinking.

The written chapters in `docs/`, the design tokens in `tokens/`, and the
reference component code in `components/` are published so that people can learn
from them and so that our own tools can consume them. Read them, cite them, and
disagree with them in public. **Ideas and rules are not ours to fence off** — if
reading our accessibility chapter makes your product better, good.

Copying our *reasoning* is fine. Copying our *identity* is not.

> The text and code in this repository remain © Since Labs. No open-source
> licence has been granted over them, and none is implied by their being
> public — see § 6. If you want to reuse the code or republish the chapters
> verbatim, ask at the address in § 9.

## 8. Changes and revocation

We may update this policy. The version in the `main` branch of
`github.com/sincelabs/brand` at the time of your use is the one that applies.

We may withdraw permission for any particular use at any time, in writing. If we
do, stop the use within a reasonable period and remove the Brand Assets from
material still under your control.

## 9. Contact

Uses outside § 3 — press kits, co-marketing, merchandise, events, anything you
are unsure about — go to **brand@sincelabs.com**. Describe the use and include a
mock-up. We are not precious about it; we would rather say yes to something
correct than find something wrong later.

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© 2026 Since Labs. All rights reserved. "Since Labs" and the `//` mark are
trademarks of Since Labs.
