Apache Trademark Resources And Site Map¶

A listing of various helpful information about Apache® trademarks, including links to some general information about trademarks in open source. The ASF considers the names of all Apache projects and software products to be trademarks of the ASF.

Apache Trademark Information Site Map¶

This is a site map with links to all Apache Software Foundation (ASF) trademark documents, categorized by audience - i.e. are you an Apache PMC member or committer working within an Apache project, or are you a user, new contributor, software vendor, or third party?

For Users And Outside Parties	For Apache PMCs And Committers
Apache Trademark Usage Policy	PMC Branding Responsibilities
Apache Trademark Usage FAQs	Project Website Branding Policy
Apache Product Name Usage Guide	Project Independence – Required PMC Procedures
Third Party Domain Name Branding Policy	Trademark Problem/Infringement Reporting Process
Third Party Event Branding Policy	Corporate Recognition Best Practices
List of Apache Registered Trademarks	Social Media Best Practices
Non-Software Merchandise Branding Policy	Process For Selecting New Apache Software Product Names
Contacting Apache With Trademark Questions	Incubator Branding Policy For Podlings
Asking non-Trademark related Legal questions	How To: Request Registration of Your Project Name
Apache Software Downstream Distribution Policy

Apache Trademark Policy Presentations / Slides / Videos¶

Here are presentation that explain how to use Apache brands, for Apache projects and for others using Apache software in their organizations:

• Profiting From Apache® Brands Without Losing Your Soul - a guide for third party users wishing to properly use Apache brands within their own work. (Presented at Apache:BigData in Budapest, 2015)
• Supporting Apache@reg; Brands While Making A Profit - Guide for users of Apache brands, with an Audio recording available. (Presented at ApacheCon NA Denver, 2014)
• Keeping Your Apache Project's Independence And Brand - a guide for PMC members, committers, and any volunteers passionate about their FOSS project with tips for keeping your brand independent, and ways to get the credit your community deserves. (Presented at ApacheCon:Core in Budapest, 2015)
• Policing Apache Project Brand Use By Third Parties - guide for communities protecting their brands, with an Audio recording available. (Presented at ApacheCon NA Denver, 2014)
• Why your project's brand is more important than the code - a 5 minute Ignite presentation about the importance of thinking about your project's brand - that is, how the outside world sees your project. (Presented at OSCON Ignite 2014, video )

Other Useful Trademark Information¶

Trademark law is a complicated subject, varying by country. Free and open source software projects - often developed by a broad collection of volunteers, and often copied/improved upon or used for services - sometimes struggle with properly using and enforcing their trademarks, especially in the face of sometimes fierce and fast-moving commercial companies looking to profit from this work.

Here are a number of external links that you may find useful in learning about trademark law and how trademarks apply to FOSS software like our many Apache software projects.

Paper or Article Title	Description of why this external link is interesting
FOSSMarks	A practical guide to understanding trademarks in the context of Free and Open Source Software projects - an excellent overview
Practical Trademark Law For FOSS Projects	Slide deck covering the basics of trademark law as applies to FOSS
A Legal Issues Primer for Open Source and Free Software Projects	Key overview from a legal perspective about how trademark law applies to free and open source software products
Passport Without A Visa: Open Source Software Licensing and Trademarks	Overview of how trademarks and licenses apply to free and open source software projects
Model Trademark Guidelines	Sample set of legal trademark guidelines for use by FOSS projects or organizations
OSI Trademark Policy	OSI's own trademark use policy, with good descriptions of different kinds of uses of software-related trademarks
Open Source License vs. Copyright vs. Trademark - How They Differ	Basic non-legal review of copyright vs. license vs. trademark
Trademark and OSS	General review of trademark applicability to open source
Open For Business: The importance of trademarks, even for an open source business	Detailed story of a new project working through defining and registering their trademark
Trademark Law: An Open-Source Casebook	University curriculum for trademark law class, focusing on open source use and issues.
The Rise and Evolution of the Open Source Software Foundation	Review of importance/growth of OSS foundations
FLOSS Foundations Directory	Listing of OSS foundations, also hosts foundations@ mailing list
How to grow your open source project 10x and revenues 5x	Simple study of governance processes of OSS foundations

Selected Trademark Search Websites¶

While many Apache software product names are unregistered trademarks, more and more Apache project communities are choosing to register their product name in the US and/or other countries. These external links are just a few of the sites you might use to search for legally registered trademarks. Pro tip: The Nice Class 9 is used for most software-related trademarks.

• USPTO Trademark Search Database - official US trademark registry. Tip: when copying links about specific registrations/applications, do not use the search link you get - copy the "TDSR" blue button link instead. There are many more USPTO search tips.
• TMView search by OHIM - Official search tool for trademarks covering the EU/CTM and parts of Europe.
• India Office of Trademarks - official trademark registry of India.
• China Trademark Office - government sanctioned search company for trademarks in China.
• Canadian Intellectual Property Office - official trademark registry of Canada.

IMPORTANT: External links here do not imply endorsement of the content or the author of any externally hosted information. Apache Trademark policies apply to projects hosted at the Apache Software Foundation and to use of any Apache brands by third parties. If you require legal advice, contact your own legal counsel; the ASF and our communities cannot provide legal advice to you.

Reminder: Apache software code and documentation, including this page, is provided under the Apache License, v2.0. This allows you to freely re-use this content for a wide variety of purposes in most cases. However the Apache License does not allow use of our trademarks: See section 6. Trademarks for details.