CommonGuard Specification

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CommonGuard

Eyes Wide Open. Detect. Flag. Enforce.

CommonGuard is an open-source AI trademark intelligence and enforcement platform that continuously monitors the web for potential trademark misuse, brand impersonation, counterfeit activity, and unauthorized commercial use. Designed with a modular architecture, CommonGuard combines AI-powered detection, evidence collection, human review, and enforcement workflows into a single extensible platform that organizations, legal teams, investigators, and open-source communities can deploy on their own infrastructure.

Rather than making legal determinations, CommonGuard assists investigators by identifying potential violations, collecting evidence, prioritizing cases through risk scoring, and streamlining enforcement workflows while maintaining human oversight throughout the review process.

Design Goals

Open-source and self-hosted
Privacy-first architecture
AI-assisted, human-reviewed enforcement
Modular plugin architecture
Vendor neutral
API-first design
Distributed monitoring
Enterprise scalable
Multi-jurisdiction support
Fully auditable workflows

Core Modules

Search Intelligence Module

Monitors search engines for trademark and brand usage.

Features:

Search engine monitoring
Trademark keyword tracking
Search result collection
SERP history
Ranking change monitoring
Advertisement monitoring
Search result archiving
Metadata collection

Website Intelligence Module

Analyzes websites that reference monitored trademarks.

Features:

Full website crawling
Header analysis
Title analysis
Meta description analysis
Structured data extraction
URL analysis
Domain relationship mapping
Technology fingerprinting
Content snapshots

Brand Detection Module

Detects textual references to brands and trademarks.

Features:

Trademark recognition
Company name recognition
Product name recognition
Service name detection
Brand variation detection
Misspelling detection
Typo-squatting detection
Keyword expansion
Language normalization

Image Intelligence Module

Analyzes visual assets for brand misuse.

Features:

Logo detection
Similar logo recognition
Watermark detection
Product image comparison
AI-generated image detection
Reverse image lookup support
OCR text extraction
Image similarity analysis

AI Analysis Module

Provides intelligent evaluation of collected evidence.

Features:

Risk scoring
Pattern recognition
Similarity analysis
Historical comparison
Behavioral analysis
Repeat offender detection
Confidence scoring
Context analysis
AI-generated summaries

Evidence Management Module

Collects and preserves investigation evidence.

Features:

Screenshots
HTML snapshots
PDF generation
Timestamp recording
Hash verification
Evidence storage
Chain of custody
Audit logging
Case attachments

Investigation Module

Centralized case management.

Features:

Investigation workspaces
Case creation
Investigator assignments
Internal notes
Evidence review
Priority management
Status tracking
Case timelines
Resolution history

Human Review Module

Ensures AI findings receive human validation.

Features:

Review queues
Approval workflow
False positive handling
Reviewer comments
Multi-review approval
Escalation workflow
Confidence verification
Decision history

Enforcement Module

Assists with enforcement activities.

Features:

Takedown preparation
Trademark complaint generation
Evidence packages
Enforcement tracking
Repeat violation monitoring
Resolution tracking
Escalation management
Reporting history

Notification Module

Keeps investigators informed.

Features:

Email alerts
Webhooks
SMS support
Desktop notifications
Slack integration
Microsoft Teams integration
Daily summaries
Critical alert escalation

Dashboard Module

Provides centralized visibility.

Features:

Live monitoring dashboard
Risk heat maps
Investigation metrics
Enforcement statistics
Trend analysis
Repeat offender reports
Investigator workload
Activity timeline

Security Module

Protects investigation data.

Features:

Role-based permissions
Multi-factor authentication
API authentication
Audit logging
Encryption
Session management
Access policies
Secure evidence storage

Optional Plugin Modules

CommonGuard supports an extensible plugin ecosystem.

Marketplace Monitor

Monitor marketplaces including:

Amazon
eBay
Etsy
Walmart Marketplace
Alibaba
AliExpress
Mercari
Facebook Marketplace

Social Media Monitor

Monitor brand usage across:

X
Facebook
Instagram
TikTok
LinkedIn
Reddit
YouTube
Pinterest

Domain Watch Plugin

New domain registrations
Whois monitoring
DNS analysis
Certificate monitoring
Domain ownership changes
Domain reputation

Counterfeit Detection Plugin

Counterfeit product detection
Seller analysis
Marketplace intelligence
Product comparison
Packaging comparison
Listing similarity

Reseller Verification Plugin

Authorized reseller database
Dealer verification
Distributor validation
Partner verification
Affiliate monitoring

AI Impersonation Plugin

Detects AI-generated brand abuse.

Features:

AI-generated websites
Fake support portals
Brand impersonation
Deepfake branding
Synthetic marketing content
AI phishing campaigns

Copyright Monitoring Plugin

Copyright detection
Content duplication
Image theft
Document monitoring
Website copying
Publication tracking

Patent Monitoring Plugin

Patent references
Technology claims
Patent citation monitoring
Patent misuse detection

Geographic Intelligence Plugin

Country analysis
Regional enforcement
Jurisdiction mapping
Geographic heat maps
Cross-border activity

Threat Intelligence Plugin

Known bad actors
Blacklists
Watchlists
Fraud indicators
Threat feeds
Reputation scoring

Blockchain Evidence Plugin

Evidence hashing
Timestamp verification
Immutable audit trail
Chain-of-custody verification

API Integration Plugin

Connect CommonGuard with:

CRM systems
Legal software
Ticketing systems
SIEM platforms
Case management software
Internal APIs

Reporting Plugin

Generate:

Investigation reports
Executive summaries
Enforcement statistics
Compliance reports
Audit reports
PDF exports
CSV exports

Future Modules

Trademark registration database integration
International trademark verification
Customs enforcement integration
Mobile investigation application
Browser investigation extension
AI legal research assistant
Court filing assistant
Collaborative investigation network
Federated investigation nodes
Public transparency portal

Technology Stack

Backend

Python
FastAPI

Database

PostgreSQL
Redis

AI

Large Language Models
Hugging Face
Local AI support
Computer Vision

Frontend

React
TypeScript

Monitoring

Playwright
Scrapy

Deployment

Docker
Kubernetes
Linux
Windows
macOS

Project Principles

AI assists but does not make legal decisions.
Human review is required before enforcement.
Evidence should be verifiable and auditable.
Organizations maintain ownership of their own data.
Modular architecture enables community extensions.
Open standards encourage interoperability.
AGPL-3.0+ ensures improvements remain open.

Specification Branding License (SBL)

Standard

Fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant system
Copyleft enforced for network deployments
Required attribution:
- Roxanne Ardary
- https://www.roxanneardary.com/

Optional

Specification Branding License (SBL)
- Attribution-free commercial deployment
- Pricing based on scale, usage, and deployment scope
- https://roxanneardary.com/commonguard/

License & Notice Requirements

CommonGuard is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).
By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.

Please note the following:

All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to:
Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
CommonGuard specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements and contributor acknowledgments.
Any update that adds new contributors or modifies attribution should also update notice.md.
When submitting a pull request, ensure that any new files maintain the attribution headers where applicable.
Network-deployed versions of this software must also remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications when applicable under the license.

For full legal details, please refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.

Notice – CommonGuard

Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.

Contributors

This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.

Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – March 12, 2026
Created the repository for CommonGuard. Developed the full AI trademark enforcement system including monitoring, analysis, human review, reporting, and enforcement workflow.
[Add other contributors here] – [Date]
[Describe contribution in one sentence]

License – CommonGuard

This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

Key Points

You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com as required under Section 7 of the license.
The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.

For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License.