Commons Registration Authorities Ontology
type: Ontology
abstract: This ontology defines concepts for representation of registration authorities, registrars, registration-specific identifiers and related identification schemes. It was derived from the FIBO Registration Authorities Ontology and ISO 11179-3, and adapted for broader use.
license: Copyright (c) 2015-2025 EDM Council, Inc. Copyright (c) 2015-2025 Object Management Group, Inc. Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. See https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT.
imports: AnnotationVocabulary
imports: BusinessAuthorizations
imports: Collections
imports: ContextualIdentifiers
imports: DatesAndTimes
imports: Documents
imports: Identifiers
imports: Organizations
imports: PartiesAndSituations
imports: RolesAndCompositions
version IRI: RegistrationAuthorities
change note: The https://www.omg.org/spec/Commons/20240801/RegistrationAuthorities.rdf version of the ontology was modified to clarify the distinction between a registrar and registration authority (COMMONS13-33) and to integrate the authorization pattern (COMMONS13-38).
copyright: Copyright (c) 2015-2025 EDM Council, Inc.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2015-2025 Object Management Group, Inc.

registered identifier
type: Class
subclass of: ContextualIdentifier
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: compliesWith
  on class: registration scheme
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has registration date
  on data range: CombinedDateTime
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: is registered by
  some values from: registrar
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: is registered in
  some values from: registry
definition: contextual identifier that is registered in a registry by, or on behalf of, a registration authority according to some registration scheme

registrar
type: Class
subclass of: ServiceProvider
subclass of: Actor
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: provides
  on class: registration service
  min qualified cardinality: 0
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isDesignatedBy
  some values from: registration authority
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: registers
  some values from: Thing
definition: role of a party that acts as a representative of a registration authority to provide registration services, including official record keeping
adapted from: Barron's Dictionary of Business and Economic Terms, Fifth Edition, 2012
adapted from: ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, Information technology - Metadata registries (MDR) - Part 3: Metamodel for registry common facilities, Fourth edition, 2023

registration authority
type: Class
subclass of: AuthorizingParty
subclass of: ServiceProvider
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: is registration authority for
  min cardinality: 0
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: manages
  on class: registry
  min qualified cardinality: 0
definition: service provider that is officially responsible for maintaining a registry and providing registration services and/or for delegating of some or all of these roles to a registrar
abbreviation: RA
adapted from: ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, Information technology - Metadata registries (MDR) - Part 3: Metamodel for registry common facilities, Fourth edition, 2023

registration scheme
type: Class
subclass of: IdentificationScheme
definition: scheme for organizing information in a registry and allocating identifiers to registered items
adapted from: ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, Information technology - Metadata registries (MDR) - Part 3: Metamodel for registry common facilities, Fourth edition, 2023

registration service
type: Class
subclass of: Service
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isProvidedBy
  some values from: registrar
definition: service provided to individuals and/or organizations for the registration of items in a registry

registry
type: Class
subclass of: StructuredCollection
subclass of: Record
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  on class: registry entry
  min qualified cardinality: 0
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isManagedBy
  some values from: registration authority
definition: authoritative record or collection of records relating to something
adapted from: ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, Information technology - Metadata registries (MDR) - Part 3: Metamodel for registry common facilities, Fourth edition, 2023
explanatory note: Electronic registries typically contain a unique identifier for each entry, so that individual records can be referenced from other documents and registries.

registry entry
type: Class
subclass of: Constituent
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isIncludedIn
  all values from: registry
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  on class: registered identifier
  min qualified cardinality: 0
definition: constituent of a registry that includes the details for something recorded in that registry
adapted from: ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, Information technology - Metadata registries (MDR) - Part 3: Metamodel for registry common facilities, Fourth edition, 2023
explanatory note: Note: From an ISO 11179 perspective, a registry item (entry) is recorded in the registry, but is not necessarily identified, named, defined, classified, registered or administered. Specific information needs to be provided for each of these categories which can be provided when the item is initially recorded, or later.
synonym: registry item

has registration authority
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: hasPartyRole
range: registration authority
inverse of: is registration authority for
definition: indicates the registration authority for something

has registration date
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: hasObservedDateTime
range: CombinedDateTime
definition: indicates the date or date and time on which something is registered

is registered by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: hasPartyRole
range: registrar
definition: indicates the registration authority or registrar that registers something

is registered in
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: refersTo
range: registry
definition: indicates the registry that something is registered in

is registration authority for
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: isRoleIn
domain: registration authority
definition: indicates something (typically an identifier or code) that the registration authority issues

registers
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: records
sub property of: isRoleIn
domain: registrar
inverse of: is registered by
definition: records something in a registry or archive