Band Name Vault allows bands to record name on a blockchain & search database; potentially mitigates risk of TM infringement & supplements rights enforcement

Source: A Journal of Musical Things. Date: 10.23.2016.

Similarly to my post about Veredictum, I think Band Name Vault provides an enforcement mechanism that could be used as evidence in a trademark infringement case – depending on how well that evidence holds up in court.

What interests me from a technical perspective is how Brand Name Vault has accomplished the query function. Ability to query data stored on a blockchain continues to be a challenge because hashes are not very easy for humans to remember or understand (but machines love ’em!). If Brand Name Vault has cracked that nut, that’s an interesting development.

They claim to be the largest database of bands in the world, which is advantageous from a business perspective since their value proposition depends on how well they leverage the network effect. On the other hand, while their U/I is a lot prettier than the USPTO’s trademark search database, their service does not provide the same rights as one receives when registering their trademark with the USPTO.

The founder, Barney Wragg, is a former EMI, UMG, and Really Useful Music Group exec.