GoDaddy acquires blockchain trademark venture

The web hosting firm, GoDaddy, has acquired Cognate, a blockchain based trademark platform. Details of the deal are scarce, but in their announcement, Cognate said that their engineers would be joining GoDaddy.

What exactly is Cognate?

Cognate provides a trademark platform where your name and other brand assets can be recorded and confirmed. Not all trademarks need to be registered. There’s a concept of common law or unregistered trademarks, which can protect a business from somebody cloning their brand. But the issue is how do you prove which one was first? And that’s what spurred the Jess and Bennett Collen, father and son, to start Cognate. Cognate uses a proof of use blockchain system where screenshots and other branded materials can be recorded with a time-stamped record. The company decided to use blockchain because it provides a transparent and immutable ledger. This means it is an excellent way to store data.

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