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by jmull 634 days ago
The policy says,

...a business related to WordPress themes can describe itself as “XYZ Themes, the world’s best WordPress themes,” but cannot call itself “The WordPress Theme Portal.”

It sounds like "[the] Most Trusted WordPress Hosting and Beyond" would be allowed.
3 comments
bawolff 634 days ago
Not to mention, wouldn't this be allowed generally? Like you are allowed to use trademarks if it is the correct description of the products you sell.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_use

[Ianal]

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sfmike 634 days ago
exactly the link was cited and that citation directly refutes the claim
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mrwyz 634 days ago
To me, it seems they have been using the mark to describe a product and the policy says clearly:

> but they cannot use them as part of a product

I mean, just go to wpengine.com and look at the first menu item: Products --> WordPress Hosting.

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echoangle 634 days ago
It doesn't matter what the policy says if there is no legal basis for it. WordPress can't prevent Nominative Use, everyone can call the thing they are doing "WordPress hosting" if it is WordPress hosting. If the policy doesn't allow that, the policy can be ignored.
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chuckadams 634 days ago
Even if WordPress could suppress nominative use, do they really want a world where everyone selling wordpress-based services and products avoids saying "WordPress" like it was the name of The Dark Lord Himself? Maybe it's time for some malicious compliance by way of a hard fork that strips the word "WordPress" everywhere except where legally required.

Even if Mullenweg somehow had 100% of the facts and law on his side, he's still an embarrassment to both the company and the foundation.

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patmcc 634 days ago
>>All other WordPress-related businesses or projects can use the WordPress name and logo to refer to and explain their services

I think the policy is somewhat vague on this; does 'Wordpress Hosting' refer to and explain the offered service? Clearly. Is 'Wordpress Hosting' a "product" WP Engine is selling? Kind of, yah?

My understanding of trademark is also that "we've been doing this for ages and you didn't say anything" is a pretty solid defense, and "Wordpress Hosting" is about the most generic hosting service offered on the internet at this point, everyone and their dog offers it.

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