Intellectual
Property
Patent and trademark portfolio for Hive Civilization. Three provisionals as of May 3, 2026.
Three Provisional Applications
Filed with the USPTO under 35 U.S.C. §111(b). 12-month priority windows active. Apache 2.0 §3 patent grant applies to redistributors of unmodified release artifacts.
| 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 |
Provisional 2 (VIP) and Provisional 3 (HiveCaste) filed May 3, 2026 — claim language preserved within Apache 2.0 grant. Application numbers for VIP and Caste pending USPTO acknowledgment.
Common-Law & USPTO Marks
Common-law trademark rights established through first use in commerce. USPTO TEAS Plus filings in preparation 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 ™ |
Protected Primitive Surface
Each provisional maps to specific endpoints and product features in the production stack.
64/055,601
Provisional 2
Provisional 3
Apache 2.0 Grant Scope
Apache 2.0 Grant
Reference crates and verifier tools are published under Apache License 2.0. The patent grant under Apache 2.0 §3 applies to redistributors of unmodified release artifacts — you receive a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive patent license for any claims necessarily infringed by those artifacts.
Commercial protection is retained for production deployments under separate commercial license. If you are building on top of Hive infrastructure in a production context, a commercial license is required. Contact [email protected] to discuss.
Covered under Apache 2.0: hive-passport-verifier · hivedrops reference crate · smsh.prov verifier. Commercial use of production endpoints requires separate license.
C2PA Prior-Art Review
PRE_FILING_GATE_C2PA.md gate completed 2026-05-02. The C2PA 2.x manifest specification was reviewed in full. Tre'gent™ three-witness binding is distinguished from the C2PA assertion model on the following grounds: C2PA asserts post-hoc provenance via manifest chaining; Tre'gent™ binds three independent witnesses to a pre-execution commitment that is cryptographically sealed before the agent acts. The claim scope of HiveChroma (64/055,601) does not read on C2PA 2.x claims.
See tregent.html for full technical differentiation from C2PA, W3C DID, and IETF RFC 8785 JCS prior art.