What are the requirements and alternatives for implementing BIMI with VMC certificates, especially regarding trademark jurisdiction and costs?

Implementing BIMI with VMC certificates involves several key requirements and alternatives. A VMC is essential for displaying a brand's logo in major email clients like Google and iCloud, confirming logo and trademark ownership. This requires a trademark registered in an accepted jurisdiction (e.g., US, Germany, Brazil), though only Brazil is currently accepted from Latin America. The cost of a VMC is a significant annual expense that can be a barrier. Alternatives include implementing BIMI without a VMC, which works in some email clients like Yahoo and Fastmail. Strategies to mitigate costs include trademarking in countries with faster processes or weighing benefits against expenses. Further, there are limited VMC vendors. Implementation issues may occur due to caching or slow DNS propagation, and Entrust and DigiCert are the only certificate authorities. Despite challenges, BIMI implementation with VMC increases brand trust and improves email marketing ROI. Ultimately, BIMI adoption has been slow due to VMC complexity, cost, and email provider support limitations.

Implementing BIMI with VMC certificates involves several requirements and considerations. A VMC is necessary for BIMI to work in major email clients like Google and iCloud, which requires a trademark registered in an accepted jurisdiction (e.g., the US, Germany, or Brazil). The cost of a VMC is a significant factor, as it is an annual expense. Alternatives to using a VMC exist, such as implementing BIMI without a certificate, which will still function in some email clients like Yahoo and Fastmail. Strategies to mitigate costs include registering a trademark in countries with faster and cheaper processes, or weighing the benefits against the cost, especially for smaller senders. Display issues can also occur due to caching or slow DNS propagation, and there are limited certificate authorities (Entrust and DigiCert) that can issue VMCs. When BIMI is correctly implemented with VMC it improves brand trust and overall email marketing ROI.

Experts indicate that implementing BIMI with VMC certificates is complex and limited by requirements like trademark jurisdiction. Deploying BIMI without a certificate can work in some places, but VMC requirements and region limitations can be challenging. Addressing edge cases may require contacting certificate authorities like DigiCert or Entrust. The slow adoption of BIMI is attributed to the cost and complexity of obtaining a VMC, as well as limited support from email providers. Trademarking in a supported country is suggested to overcome region limitations.

The documentation consistently highlights the requirements for implementing BIMI with VMC certificates. A VMC is essential for displaying a brand's logo in supporting email inboxes and verifies ownership of the logo and trademark. The trademark must be registered with an approved trademark office, and specific jurisdictions are accepted. A BIMI record must be published in DNS, pointing to the SVG logo file. Let's Encrypt does not offer VMCs.