KCS Methodology Ownership and Attribution
Who owns the KCS methodology?
The Consortium for Service Innovation owns the methodology and owns the registered service mark “KCS®”. Because the Consortium is a non-profit industry association, the members of the Consortium – who collectively created the methodology – own the methodology. The Consortium facilitates the development and protects the integrity of the methodology.
Why does the Consortium make the KCS documentation available for free?
The Consortium is a non-profit association that has been very generous with its intellectual property; most everything the Consortium produces is under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. The Consortium members are happy to share their work and learnings with the industry. Commercial use (revenue-generating offerings) based on the intellectual property owned by the Consortium, or use of the KCS service mark, must be done under a separate commercial use agreement, which includes a review of the offering’s adherence to the methodology.
Any commercial offerings using the Consortium’s KCS intellectual property without a review for compliance to the methodology and an agreement for commercial use are unauthorized. Any such training or certification programs are in violation of the Creative Commons license and are not recognized by the Consortium.
How does the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License work?
The Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that provides standardized and widely accepted license agreements for sharing knowledge and creative works.
Under this particular license, you are free to share the KCS v6 Practices Guide for non-commercial use as long as you give appropriate credit (see below) to the Consortium for Service Innovation, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may not use the material for commercial (revenue-generating) purposes without explicit written permission from the Consortium for Service Innovation. Please contact the Consortium with questions.
What does “appropriate credit to the Consortium for Service Innovation” look like?
The KCS® methodology is a registered service mark of the Consortium for Service Innovation. The first mention of KCS in a written work or presentation must include the superscript ®. Please also include this footnote or parenthetical statement: “KCS® is a service mark of the Consortium for Service Innovation™.”
KCS cannot be used in the name of a commercial offering without explicit written permission from the Consortium for Service Innovation. Please contact the Consortium with questions.
Can I do a presentation about KCS at an industry conference, where people pay to attend but I am not being paid to present?
Yes, so long as you attribute any use of the Consortium’s intellectual property to the Consortium for Service Innovation. (See above.)
How do I get permission to use the KCS v6 intellectual property for commercial (revenue-generating) offerings?
The KCS Academy offers a number of programs that enable the commercial use of the Consortium’s intellectual property and the registered service mark KCS. See the KCS Academy web site for information about the KCS Certified Trainer, KCS Verified and KCS Aligned programs. For commercial use not covered under these programs, please contact the Consortium.
Are KCS certifications from other organizations recognized by the Consortium?
The KCS Academy is the only organization authorized by the Consortium for Service Innovation to issue KCS certifications, which are earned by passing a certification exam. These official certification exams may be facilitated in conjunction with training by KCS Certified Trainers, who are authorized for such activities. Any other organization or group claiming to offer KCS certification is not authorized by the Consortium for Service Innovation and is in violation of the KCS v6 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License agreement. See also: HDI is not an authorized provider of KCS training or certification.