<div dir="ltr">Hi Pirmin<div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jul 5, 2013 at 5:02 PM, Pirmin Kalberer <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:pi_ml@sourcepole.com" target="_blank">pi_ml@sourcepole.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hi,<br>
<br>
Protecting 'QGIS' as a trademark is also in our (Sourcepole's) interest.<br>
The Linux trademark program [1] seems like a good example, how to handle this. <br></blockquote><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Pirmin<br>
<br>
[1] <a href="http://www.linuxfoundation.org/programs/legal/trademark" target="_blank">http://www.linuxfoundation.org/programs/legal/trademark</a><br>
<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div style>Thanks I'll take a look. I also took a look at the european trademark registration process which (no big surprise I guess) looked like a very complicated process.</div><div style>
<br></div><div style>Regards</div><div style><br></div><div style>Tim</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<br>
Am Freitag, 5. Juli 2013, 12.44:35 schrieb Vincent Picavet:<br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">> Hello,<br>
><br>
> Good to raise this issue. A few comments on that point.<br>
><br>
> I think Sourcepole move and product is really fine, actually needed, and a<br>
> sign of maturity for both QGIS as a product, and as a strong GIS market<br>
> element. NextGIS also has such an offer, and we could also be in a position<br>
> to offer such QGIS specific version.<br>
><br>
> I recently realized that someone uses the <a href="http://formation-qgis.com" target="_blank">formation-qgis.com</a> website name<br>
> ("<a href="http://qgis-training.com" target="_blank">qgis-training.com</a>" would be the english translation), and as such uses the<br>
> qgis name as their own brand. As said, this leads to confusion and<br>
> problematic situations for QGIS as a project.<br>
><br>
> I would support Tim's and Otto suggestion, to have a name trademark policy<br>
> similar to the firefox one : you can use the brand as long as you talk about<br>
> the unmodified product as offered by the official QGIS project. Otherwise<br>
> find your own name which should not lead to confusion.<br>
><br>
> We could allow some exceptions to that, granted explicitely by the PSC, for<br>
> specific cases like linux distributions or OSGeo4W which for various reason<br>
> could have a need for modified QGIS versions (to avoid the firefox/iceweasel<br>
> story in debian).<br>
><br>
> It would therefore be good to have a written trademark policy available to<br>
> anyone, so as to avoid general confusion of what QGIS is and where it comes<br>
> from.<br>
><br>
> As for the specific SourcePole case, that is a discussion to have with them<br>
> in order to find a solution suitable for all, but we really need to have<br>
> something generic and avoid any favoritism.<br>
><br>
> I'm not on the PSC, but this is a general +1 for Tim's suggestions.<br>
><br>
> Vincent<br>
><br>
> > I agree with Tim. Before the latest thread on the lists, I wasn't really<br>
> > aware, that there could be confusion about the Sourcepole products and the<br>
> > QGIS project. But I understand that the names QGIS Cloud or QGIS<br>
> > Enterprise<br>
> > might cause irritations and other problems for the project as described by<br>
> > Tim below.<br>
> ><br>
> > In the case of Sourcepole I also wouldn't see problem with their products<br>
> > itself. They fills a gap for users and companies that we as an open source<br>
> > (voluntary) project can't provide - at least not at the moment.<br>
> ><br>
> > But as Tim said, it is a general problem, an open door, that anybody can<br>
> > use the name QGIS for any kind of product - and this is definitely not<br>
> > what I want. So I also see the need to find a solution for this and<br>
> > support Tim's suggestions:<br>
> ><br>
> > - Trademark QGIS<br>
> > - Find a solution with Sourcepole (and maybe with others as well?) that we<br>
> ><br>
> > all can live with.<br>
> ><br>
> > Regards<br>
> > Otto<br>
> ><br>
> > Am Fri, 5 Jul 2013 09:05:39 +0200<br>
> ><br>
> > schrieb Tim Sutton <<a href="mailto:tim@linfiniti.com">tim@linfiniti.com</a>>:<br>
> > > Hi Folks<br>
> > ><br>
> > > With the recent announcement from Pirmin about 'QGIS Enterprise' I think<br>
> > > it would be good to resurface the discussion of trademarking the name<br>
> > > 'QGIS'. I know Paolo did raise this once before but we did not really<br>
> > > progress the discussion.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > I know this discussion is going to be a little complicated by a) the<br>
> > > fact<br>
> > > that Marco is one of the fine folks behind Sourcepole and b) there are<br>
> > > plenty of other precedents of the name 'QGIS' being used for 'unofficial<br>
> > > products', so please understand I do not wish to be inflammatory in this<br>
> > > email.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > However it is my position that we should restrict the use of 'QGIS' in<br>
> > > product names to only those products that are officially products of<br>
> > > QGIS.org. The use of QGIS in third party products / derivative products<br>
> > > is for me problematic on a few counts:<br>
> > ><br>
> > > * *it creates confusion* - people will have an automatic expectation<br>
> > > that<br>
> > > the project in question is freely available and part of the standard<br>
> > > offerings of QGIS.org. There is also the very likely possibility that we<br>
> > > start getting misdirected enquiries for third party products arriving on<br>
> > > our mailing lists and in our inboxes.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > * *it limits our options* - case in point, if we as a project ever<br>
> > > decide<br>
> > > to produce an 'enterprise' version of QGIS, we no longer have the option<br>
> > > to do so as there is already another product out there with the same<br>
> > > name.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > * *it signifies endorsement *- someone using the name 'QGIS' in their<br>
> > > product is leading the users of that product to believe that it is<br>
> > > endorsed by QGIS.org which probably isn't the case.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > I think there are plenty of other established reasons why it is a good<br>
> > > idea for us to control how the name QGIS should be used. In the case of<br>
> > > QGIS Enterprise (Sourcepole product), I have absolutely no problem that<br>
> > > it exists, but I do think the names 'QGIS Enterprise' and 'QGIS Cloud'<br>
> > > etc leave scope for significant confusion amongst our users. People have<br>
> > > already been asking about 'can they have it, can they have the source'<br>
> > > etc. and I would prefer that for any product that carries the QGIS<br>
> > > name, the answer to these questions should always be an unequivocal<br>
> > > 'YES!' since deep within the ethos of our project is the concept of a<br>
> > > 'GIS for everyone'.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > *What is my suggestion? *<br>
> > ><br>
> > > * I would respectfully ask the Sourcepole team to consider renaming<br>
> > > their<br>
> > > products to something that does not carry in QGIS in the name unless<br>
> > > they<br>
> > > are wholly a product of the QGIS.org project. E.g. Sourcepole GIS,<br>
> > > Sourcepole Cloud.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > * I think we should pursue the idea of trademarking QGIS, ,QGIS.org and<br>
> > > require that any product that carries the name originate or be in the<br>
> > > collective control of the QGIS.org project.<br>
> > ><br>
> > ><br>
> > > I think the definition of what is an official QGIS product warrants<br>
> > > further discussion and I really hope this email starts a healthy and<br>
> > > reasoned debate on the issue in the spirit in which this message itself<br>
> > > is sent.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Best regards<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Tim<br>
> ><br>
> > _______________________________________________<br>
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><br>
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</div></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">--<br>
Freundliche Grüsse / Kind regards<br>
<br>
Pirmin Kalberer @PirminKalberer<br>
Sourcepole - Linux & Open Source Solutions<br>
Weberstrasse 5, 8004 Zürich, Switzerland<br>
Tel: 044 440 77 11 Direkt: 044 51 567 77<br>
<a href="mailto:pka@sourcepole.ch">pka@sourcepole.ch</a> <a href="http://www.sourcepole.ch" target="_blank">http://www.sourcepole.ch</a><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release Manager)<br>==============================================<br>Visit <a href="http://linfiniti.com" target="_blank">http://linfiniti.com</a> to find out about:<br>
* QGIS programming services<br> * GeoDjango web development<br> * FOSS Consulting Services<br>Skype: timlinux Irc: timlinux on #qgis at <a href="http://freenode.net" target="_blank">freenode.net</a><br>==============================================
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