Regulatory Interface, Legal Status & Intellectual Property

Version 2.0 · Publication Date: 2026-09-22 · Status: Published / Effective
Document ID: DV-F-05-v2.0
© 2026 DraftVerify™ Standards Initiative. All rights reserved.

Purpose. F-5 defines the relationship between DraftVerify requirements, external legal obligations, certification claims, and DraftVerify intellectual property. It is not legal advice and does not declare that DraftVerify is required by law.

1. Private and voluntary status

DraftVerify is an independent, private standards and certification initiative.

Adoption of the DraftVerify Standard is voluntary unless a party has separately agreed by contract to comply with it.

DraftVerify is not a legislature, regulator, government agency, public health authority, inspection authority, or accredited certification body unless a specific accreditation is expressly identified for a specific scope.

2. External requirements take precedence

Organizations remain responsible for identifying and complying with applicable:

• alcohol laws and licensing requirements;
• food and beverage requirements;
• consumer-protection law;
• occupational health and safety requirements;
• pressure, gas, electrical, building, and fire codes;
• sanitation and draft-system requirements;
• manufacturer instructions; and
• contractual obligations.

Where an external mandatory requirement conflicts with DraftVerify, the external requirement shall prevail and the conflict shall be documented.

3. Product classification

DraftVerify does not establish a universal legal definition of “non-alcoholic.”

An organization shall determine the lawful classification, labeling, and service requirements applicable to each product in each jurisdiction in which it operates.

4. Effect of DraftVerify certification

DraftVerify Certification means only that DraftVerify has made the conformity decision described by the certificate and its scope.

Certification shall not be represented as:

• government approval;
• regulatory compliance certification unless the certificate expressly covers a legally recognized scheme;
• product-safety approval;
• medical or health assurance;
• insurance approval; or
• accreditation by ISO, IEC, a national standards body, or another organization unless such accreditation has actually been granted.

5. Copyright

Original DraftVerify literary, artistic, software, and other copyright works may include:

• standards text;
• diagrams and schematics;
• training works;
• forms and handbooks where protectable expression exists;
• software code;
• registry interfaces and original graphics; and
• certificate and publication artwork.

Copyright protects original expression. It does not give DraftVerify ownership of facts, general ideas, abstract methods, procedures, or systems merely because DraftVerify describes them.

Nothing in the F-Series shall be interpreted as claiming copyright over material that applicable law does not protect.

6. Public reference licence

DraftVerify grants the public a limited, non-exclusive, revocable permission to access and read public F-Series documents and to link to them.

Unless otherwise permitted by law or written licence, public access does not authorize:

• reproduction or redistribution of substantial protected text;
• publication of adapted or translated editions;
• commercial repackaging of DraftVerify publications;
• inclusion of substantial protected DraftVerify content in paid training, software, consulting products, or competing standards publications;
• removal of copyright, version, or source notices; or
• use of DraftVerify marks in a manner implying authorization, affiliation, or certification.

7. Factual reference

A third party may make accurate factual reference to DraftVerify, subject to applicable law.

Examples include:

• linking to the official DraftVerify Standard;
• identifying DraftVerify as a source;
• stating that internal procedures were informed by or mapped against specified DraftVerify requirements.

Such reference shall not imply that DraftVerify certified, approved, audited, sponsored, or endorsed the third party unless that status is active and authorized.

8. Marks and certification claims

DraftVerify™, DraftVerify Standard™, DraftVerify Certified™, DraftVerify Verified™, associated logos, certification badges, seals, certificate designs, and other designated marks are controlled DraftVerify identifiers to the extent protected by applicable trademark, certification-mark, passing-off, unfair-competition, contract, and related law.

Registration status varies by jurisdiction. DraftVerify shall not represent an unregistered mark as registered.

Use of a DraftVerify certification mark by a certificate holder is governed by F-32 and the applicable written licence.

9. Certification licence

Certification and mark use are contractual permissions separate from public access to the Standard.

A certificate holder receives only the rights expressly granted in its certificate and licence.

Suspension, withdrawal, expiry, or termination ends authorization to make certification claims or use controlled certification marks except as expressly permitted for historical recordkeeping.

10. Registry status

The DraftVerify Registry is the controlling DraftVerify record of certification status.

A copied certificate, screenshot, badge, label, printed document, or third-party database shall not override the current DraftVerify Registry status.

11. Enforcement

DraftVerify may take action appropriate to the right involved, including:

• correction requests;
• withdrawal of certification or mark licences;
• contractual remedies;
• trademark or passing-off claims;
• copyright claims concerning protected expression;
• platform or hosting notices where legally available; and
• other remedies available under applicable law.

DraftVerify shall not characterize independent use of an unprotected idea, fact, method, or system as copyright infringement merely because it resembles a DraftVerify concept.

12. Permissions

Requests for reproduction, translation, commercial use, certification mark licensing, or other permissions shall be directed to legal@draftverify.com or the contact method specified by DraftVerify.