S Handles on Spondula are issued on a first-come-first-served basis to anyone who completes account setup. Spondula proactively reserves a small set of internal, system, and payment-rail terms to protect the platform and its users. For the rare cases where a verified brand owner believes a handle is being used to impersonate their organisation, this policy explains how to request a review.

§ 1, Who can submit a takedown

Takedown requests are open to verified brand owners or their authorised legal representatives. To be eligible you must be able to provide at least one of the following:

• A registered trademark certificate covering the mark in question.
• A court order or tribunal ruling directing the transfer or removal of the handle.
• A sanctions designation (UN, UK OFSI, EU, or US OFAC) identifying the handle holder.
• A registered company number from a national companies register that directly matches the name being impersonated.

§ 2, What we will action

• Clear impersonation of a registered trademark. Where a handle is visibly and materially identical to a registered mark and there is evidence of intent to deceive users (for example, a handle that closely mimics a bank or payments brand and has already been used in a fraud or phishing attempt).
• Court orders. Any valid court order or judgment directing Spondula to act will be complied with promptly.
• Sanctions enforcement. Handles associated with sanctioned entities will be actioned immediately as part of our AML / CFT obligations, independent of any complaint.

§ 3, What we will NOT action

• Generic word marks that are in common use and not uniquely associated with your brand.
• Lookalike-but-different handles (“similar-sounding” claims) where there is no evidence of impersonation or consumer confusion.
• Fan accounts, commentary handles, parody accounts, or any handle that is clearly not purporting to be the rights holder.
• Mere coincidence of name, another person may have a valid prior claim to a common first name, word, or acronym.

§ 4, How to submit

You can submit a takedown request using the form at the bottom of this page, or by emailing [email protected] directly. Both channels route to the same internal review queue. Please include: the disputed handle, your contact email, your organisation name (if applicable), and a description of the rights you hold and the harm caused. We may ask for supporting documentation (trademark certificate, company registration, etc.) before making a decision.

§ 5, What happens after submission

Once received, a member of our Support team will review your submission and the evidence you have provided. Every case is recorded in an auditable log with a unique case ID. If your request is approved:

• The handle is released from the current account using Spondula's standard admin changeHandle action.
• The previous holder enters a 30-day grace period (consistent with the standard handle-change policy) during which their existing payment links continue to resolve.
• You may then claim the handle through the standard verified-business flow.

If your request is denied, the case is closed with a written reason and the decision is logged. You may appeal (see § 7 below).

§ 6, How long this takes

Most cases are reviewed within 5 business days. Complex cases involving legal proceedings or additional evidence requests may take longer. We do not make any binding service-level commitment on review time.

§ 7, Audit & appeals

Every decision, approved or denied, is recorded in our internal audit trail with a timestamp, case ID, and the reviewer's identifier. If you believe a decision was made in error, you may request an appeal by replying to your original case email or by writing to [email protected] within 30 days of the decision. Appeals are reviewed by a different member of the team.