At Valimail, we want our customers to enjoy all the benefits of authenticating their email, and today that includes Brand Indicators for Message Identification, also known as BIMI. BIMI provides a way for domain owners to have their logo displayed with their email messages when mail is sent to participating mailbox providers under certain conditions. This promotes better brand recognition and higher recipient trust for your email, and should in turn drive higher levels of engagement.
To fully participate in BIMI, a domain owner must meet all of the following requirements:
DMARC at Enforcement
BIMI requires that both your email domain and your organizational domain (if different) have published DMARC policies that are “at enforcement”. This means:
- The records’ p= tag must have a value of “quarantine” or “reject”
- If the tag is p=quarantine, the value of the pct tag, if present, must be “100”
- Neither record can have an sp= tag with a value of “none”
SVG Tiny P/S Logo
The logos used for BIMI must be in a specific format, called “SVG Tiny Portable Secure”. See https://www.valimail.com/blog/bimi-compatible-logos/ for more information on this format.
Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) and Registered Trademark
Some mailbox providers require that logos used with BIMI be verified as associated with the domain through the issuance of a VMC. Certification Authorities that issue VMCs are currently requiring that logos be registered trademarks in a limited number of jurisdictions around the world.
Which Jurisdictions?
Currently supported jurisdictions are the United States, Canada, most of Europe, Japan, and Australia. As of July 2021 the following are supported:
- United States - US Patent & Trademark Office
- Canada - Canadian Intellectual Property Office
- European Union - EU Intellectual Property Office
- United Kingdom - UK Intellectual Property Office
- Germany - Deutsches Patent - und Markenamt
- Japan Trademark Office
- Australia - IP Australia
The full list can be found in this document (PDF) from the BIMI Group.
How Do I Know If My Company Has a Registered Trademark?
You can check the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO). If your organization’s logo can be found and has an active, registered trademark, you may use your logo to obtain a BIMI certificate. Otherwise, check in with your Legal team.
What If We Don’t Have a Registered Trademark or Have One in a Different Jurisdiction?
At present, not all mailbox providers require VMCs to support BIMI display of a logo, so you can still partially participate in BIMI right now so long as your DMARC requirements are met. The standards body responsible for BIMI has future plans to expand BIMI access to include both additional jurisdictions and options for logos that are not registered trademarks, so if you’re unable to get a registered trademark in a supported jurisdiction, you may still find ways to fully participate in BIMI in the future.
Okay, I’m Ready to Obtain a VMC; What’s Next?
Contact your Valimail Sales Representative, who can help you through the process of getting set up with Amplify, our automated BIMI solution. If you are not yet a Valimail customer email us at support@valimail.com.