[Qgis-psc] Use of and trademarking of the name 'QGIS'

Fri Jul 5 08:05:28 PDT 2013

Hi Pirmin

On Fri, Jul 5, 2013 at 5:02 PM, Pirmin Kalberer <pi_ml at sourcepole.com>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Protecting 'QGIS' as a trademark is also in our (Sourcepole's) interest.
> The Linux trademark program [1] seems like a good example, how to handle
> this.
>
Pirmin
>
> [1] http://www.linuxfoundation.org/programs/legal/trademark
>
>
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.

Regards

Tim

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

-- 
Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release  Manager)
==============================================
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