[Board] Re: GeoTools trademark

[Seven (aka Arnulf)]

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Ben, Jody,
thanks for investing time and nerves into this issue and sorry in the
name of the board that we did not follow up in a more timely manner.



Dear GeoTools PSC,
I repeat my opinion that we should opt for (2) and not do anything
beyond this.

My experience is that this is the best way to go ahead. Be honest about
the situation, add a short blurb / blog / web site note how the
situation developed, add a link to AOA and let it be as is.

If AOA intends to sue OSGeo for whatever we can still proceed to other
measures but simply complying to their kind request of linking to each
other's site and add a note does not really cost us anyhting but an hour
of writing and does not put us in a worse position than we are now.

The chances that AOA wants to do us any harm are minimal, there is no
reason. It is obvious that we (OSGeo, GeoTools, the Open Source
community) are morally integer. Suing this type of community and
organizations does not promise any monetary outcome but lots of damage
to the image of the suitor. Instead AOA will profit from our linking
back to them and as they are pretty much active in another niche I
cannot see that this is harmful to our mission and goals either.



Board,
please follow up on this request from the GeoTools PSC and make up your
mind by the end of this week. We should then proceed to make a motion
(forthcoming, please suggest wording options) and then vote on it via
mail. If we do not find consensus we will have to hop on the phone and
further discuss.

If the GeoTools PSC insists on getting support from a lawyer I suggest
that we provide for funding up to a limit of (pleasse insert figure here).



Best regards,
Arnulf.

PS:
Board, please do read up on the last mails and answer until the end of
the week, even if only by saying that you would follow the GoeTools PSC
path or consider the proposal above to be sufficient to satisfy our
responsibilities as a foundation.


Ben Caradoc-Davies wrote:
> On 21/06/11 14:03, Jody Garnett wrote:
>> Any word Ben? As I understand it we are waiting on communication
>> between CSIRO legal and the OSGeo Board.
> 
> No, CSIRO Legal has completed everything it is willing to do; this is
> detailed in my forwarded email entitled "Fwd: GEOTOOLS" to Tyler,
> Arnulf, and the PMC on 3 June. I have not received any response from
> anyone.
> 
> In a nutshell, CSIRO Legal has provided a recommendation of a US
> trademark attorney, a suggested list of questions, and suggested
> actions. As CSIRO is not a party to this discussion, CSIRO Legal have
> decided that they have no further role. (Their professional indemnity
> does not extend that far.)
> 
> So, is the OSGeo board willing to spend money to obtain the suggested
> advice?
> 
> Without advice, options as I see them:
> 
> (1) Refuse AOA's request.
> (2) Agree to their request.
> (3) Counter-offer with a suggestion to put a link in the FAQ.
> (4) Rename GeoTools.
> 
> In my view, the only options that solve the problem are (4) or a legal
> opinion that supports (1). Option (1) costs money. Without spending
> money we are hoping that AOA will not take matters further. If we choose
> (2) or (3) we are IMO (IANAL) acknowledging their claim and nothing
> prevents AOA or later owners of the mark taking an action against OSGeo.
> 
> To recap:
> - OSGeo can pay for (1).
> - We can choose (1) without advice or (2) or (3) and hope the problem
> goes away.
> - We can rename the project.
> 
> I do not think Jody's suggested change to geotools.org is sufficient. It
> wouldn't stop me from suing.
> 
> I propose "GeoThings"! This allows us to keep the GEOT prefix in Jira.
> 
> We could have a competition. We also should check whois and trademark
> registrations before we rename.
> 
> Ian, as a project co-founder, I would be interested to hear your
> suggestions of alternative names. Does your baby have a middle name?
> 
> Kind regards,
> 


- --
Exploring Space, Time and Mind
http://arnulf.us
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