[echoangle]

You can't prevent someone from using your Trademark as a description with your trademark policy. Everyone can use your Trademark to identify the thing, they don't need your permission. I could call myself the best Linux admin ever and the Linux Mark Institute can do nothing.

[mrwyz]

That's not how U.S. trademark law works.

[echoangle]

Do you want to explain how it does work? And what exactly that I said is wrong?

Here’s the Wikipedia article on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_use

[mrwyz]

The law is not black-and-white. Absolutes like "Everyone can use your Trademark to identify the thing" don't fit in this context. Your reliance on Wikipedia to summarize a doctrine further demonstrates you don't have a firm grasp on the subject. Of course none on HN should listen to legal interpretations (including mine) because it's often not that simple. You can get a glimpse of the issue by reading this commentary from the American Bar: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/intellectual_property_law...

I think (and that's my opinion) that a jury would see that what wpengine is doing is not fair use and that their offering is creating confusion among consumers, but that's not for me (or you, or anyone else here on HN) to decide.

[echoangle]

Well I’ll be ready to watch the lawsuit for trademark infringement then. Except there won’t be one because there’s no chance that’s trademark infringement. All the statements on the website of WP engine (as I currently see it of course) don’t imply any affiliation with the Wordpress trademark owners and are pretty factual. Do you have some more explicit reasoning for statements on the website that you find infringing?

[mrwyz]

Exhibit B, C: https://automattic.com/2024/09/25/open-source-trademarks-wp-...

Put some money on those 0% odds.

[echoangle]

Let’s see how it goes. I still can’t imagine that Automattic would win a suite, but maybe WP engine complies with the Cease and desist.

[mthoms]

Yes it is. Go ahead and Google "nominative fair use".