trademarks and your free and open source software project
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Trademarks
Karen M. SandlerAll Things OpenOctober 22, 2014
And Your Free Software Project
![Page 2: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Hi! IANYL; TINLA
● Executive Director, Conservancy● Board of Directors, GNOME Foundation● Pro bono counsel, QuestionCopyright.Org ● Cyborg
![Page 3: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
What is a trademark?
● Brand management and identity● Words or pictures● It's about recognition● Earned through use● Not copyright
![Page 4: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
![Page 5: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Trademark is all about confusion.
![Page 6: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
So what's all this ® TM stuff?
![Page 7: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
There is an inherent tension in trademark enforcement for free software
![Page 8: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
...so we make policies, which are tested.
![Page 9: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
![Page 10: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Policies
● State explicitly what's permitted (substantially unmodified versions, identification)
● Naming conventions (fooPLUS, DifferentFoo)● Merch
...so long as there's no likelihood
of confusion
![Page 11: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
We get all kinds of requests
● Stickers● Academic papers● Websites● Domain names● Project names● Company names
![Page 12: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
“forced” to defend
![Page 13: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
![Page 14: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
![Page 15: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
![Page 16: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
![Page 17: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
![Page 18: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
![Page 19: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
![Page 20: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
![Page 21: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Key Factors
● Similarity of the mark?● Different markets?● Overall impression● Actual confusion● Impact in the community● “fair use”
![Page 22: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
The analysis may be different under subtly different conditions
![Page 23: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
And it's important to keep things in perspective.
![Page 24: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
![Page 25: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
![Page 26: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
This takes a lot of work!
![Page 27: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Conservancy just won an opposition proceeding.
![Page 28: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
There are many other areas of confusion that have been cleared up.
![Page 29: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
“Gittip has been a serviceable name for the past two years, but it's not ideal. For most people, Gittip doesn't have any relevant natural associations; it doesn't suggest anything about our mission. It's hard to spell, hard to pronounce, and hard to remember. For people who know what git and GitHub are the situation is worse, because Gittip puts us in a box we don't want to be in. We're building a mass-market product, not something for a tech niche. And for pete's sake, my own kids confuse Gittip with GitHub.”
Chad Whitacre
![Page 30: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
![Page 31: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
![Page 32: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
How do we prevent these situations from happening in the first place?
![Page 33: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
So how important are trademarks?
![Page 34: Trademarks and Your Free and Open Source Software Project](https://reader030.vdocuments.us/reader030/viewer/2022020208/55ac35691a28ab0a158b45e5/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
Thank you
● GNOME Foundation and Software Freedom Conservancy are 501(c)(3) charities in the USA – make a donation!
gnome.org/friendssfconservancy.org/donate/
● These slides, this talk, and audio/video recordings thereof (except for photos by others) are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
(CC BY-SA 4.0)