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Response to DHH

(ma.tt)
176 points markx2 | 1 comments | 14 Oct 24 17:42 UTC | HN request time: 0.323s | source
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alexander2002 ◴[14 Oct 24 19:19 UTC] No.41840900[source]▶
What is the endgoal for WpEngine.I am not following the drama closely.

1.Are they legally in the clear?(Note:Legally)

2.Can they rebrand to something other than Wp?

replies(2): >>41843311 #>>41844294 #
hadad ◴[14 Oct 24 23:29 UTC] No.41843311[source]▶
the 'wp' word never been legally trademarked. The usage is okay until Sep 24th [1], but becoming problematic since the king mad [2]

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024555/https://wordpress...

2. https://wordpressfoundation.org/trademark-policy/

replies(2): >>41844336 #>>41850390 #
1. bigiain ◴[15 Oct 24 02:25 UTC] No.41844336[source]▶
To save a few clicks and page scans,

In 1, the WordPress Foundation who owns the Wordpress trademark says:

  The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks and you are free to use it in any way you see fit.
2 changed that to say, presumably by Matt (or under Matt's instruction) ignoring or failing to get any legal advice, to:

  The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks, but please don’t use it in a way that confuses people. For example, many people think WP Engine is “WordPress Engine” and officially associated with WordPress, which it’s not. They have never once even donated to the WordPress Foundation, despite making billions of revenue on top of WordPress.
"Please don't use the abbreviation 'WP' which is not a trademark we own, and that we've been telling everybody for years that they are free to use in any way, under these new conditions we made up today" - is not a legally binding requirement. It's "becoming problematic" only as evidence of the deranged behaviour of "the mad king".

WPEngine, quite reasonably, for more than a decade have been running/building a business using a name based on what the WordPress Foundation said in 1. I find it extremely hard to believe that a court/judge could possibly find that "problematic" or rude that WordPress (.com, .org, or foundations) or Matt or Automattic - have any rights that prevent WPEngine (or any other company) from using "WP" in their name, even if it is widely understood to be an abbreviation of WordPress.