Apache OFBiz Project Trademarks and Branding

[Sharan-F]

Hi Everyone

I’m currently doing some work around the project branding and have found out that the official project name that has been trademarked is Apache OFBiz and OFBiz.

The full list of Apache Trademarks can be found here http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/list/

Although originally OFBiz was just an abbreviation for "Open for Business"  now  OFBiz is the only  official name of our project.


The words “Open For Business” have not been Apache trademarked. I think this may have been because there are a range of existing organisations that use these words as part of their description and also "The Open For Business Project"  is quite a long name and Apache projects tend to prefer short word names.

So what does this mean? – Firstly I think we need to look at modifying our official logo as this still includes the text "The Open For Business Project". This logo is used in our website and also in all of our releases.

Then we will also need to do a full review of our website and wiki to replace any references to "Open for Business" with OFBiz.

I also plan to do a review of OFBiz integrator / developer websites to ensure that they include the correct attribution for Apache OFBiz and associated trademarks.

Thanks
Sharan

[Jacopo Cappellato-4]

+1 to all your points and proposals: thank you Sharan for the valuable initiative.

Jacopo

On Jan 9, 2015, at 12:23 PM, Sharan-F <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi Everyone
>
> I’m currently doing some work around the project branding and have found out
> that the official project name that has been trademarked is Apache OFBiz and
> OFBiz.
>
> The full list of Apache Trademarks can be found here
> http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/list/
> <http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/list/>  
>
> Although originally OFBiz was just an abbreviation for "Open for Business"
> now  OFBiz is the only  official name of our project.
>
>
> The words “Open For Business” have not been Apache trademarked. I think this
> may have been because there are a range of existing organisations that use
> these words as part of their description and also "The Open For Business
> Project"  is quite a long name and Apache projects tend to prefer short word
> names.
>
> So what does this mean? – Firstly I think we need to look at modifying our
> official logo as this still includes the text "The Open For Business
> Project". This logo is used in our website and also in all of our releases.
>
> Then we will also need to do a full review of our website and wiki to
> replace any references to "Open for Business" with OFBiz.
>
> I also plan to do a review of OFBiz integrator / developer websites to
> ensure that they include the correct attribution for Apache OFBiz and
> associated trademarks.
>
> Thanks
> Sharan
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/Apache-OFBiz-Project-Trademarks-and-Branding-tp4661054.html
> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

[Jacques Le Roux]

Le 09/01/2015 12:44, Jacopo Cappellato a écrit :

> +1 to all your points and proposals: thank you Sharan for the valuable initiative.
>
> Jacopo
>
> On Jan 9, 2015, at 12:23 PM, Sharan-F <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> Hi Everyone
>>
>> I’m currently doing some work around the project branding and have found out
>> that the official project name that has been trademarked is Apache OFBiz and
>> OFBiz.
>>
>> The full list of Apache Trademarks can be found here
>> http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/list/
>> <http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/list/>
>>
>> Although originally OFBiz was just an abbreviation for "Open for Business"
>> now  OFBiz is the only  official name of our project.
>>
>>
>> The words “Open For Business” have not been Apache trademarked. I think this
>> may have been because there are a range of existing organisations that use
>> these words as part of their description and also "The Open For Business
>> Project"  is quite a long name and Apache projects tend to prefer short word
>> names.
>>
>> So what does this mean? – Firstly I think we need to look at modifying our
>> official logo as this still includes the text "The Open For Business
>> Project". This logo is used in our website and also in all of our releases.
>>
>> Then we will also need to do a full review of our website and wiki to
>> replace any references to "Open for Business" with OFBiz.

I agree but I think we should explain on main page that OFBiz stands for "Open for Business"

>>
>> I also plan to do a review of OFBiz integrator / developer websites to
>> ensure that they include the correct attribution for Apache OFBiz and
>> associated trademarks.

Good initiative! But from my experience, good luck with that :/

Jacques

>>
>> Thanks
>> Sharan
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> View this message in context: http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/Apache-OFBiz-Project-Trademarks-and-Branding-tp4661054.html
>> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
>

[Sharan-F]

Hi Jacques

You've raised a good point about explaining what OFBiz stands for and I agree that the main page is probably the best place for it.

Thanks
Sharan

[Ron Wheeler]

I am not sure what you want to do with "Open for Business".
Trademarks are specific graphic images.

As a slogan, it can still be used but it may not be protected as a
trademark.
Certainly many governments use "Open for Business" as a slogan to
indicate that they are business friendly.

I am not a lawyer but I don't see any need to remove it from any pages
as long as we understand that it may be used by others for uses
unrelated to OFBiz.

For example,
I can write that my software is "Microsoft compatible" but I can not use
the Microsoft trademark on my brochures without permission.
I can put "Open for Business" on my web site to announce that a new
service is now available but I can not use the OFBiz graphic if it is an
OFBiz trademark.

Ron

On 09/01/2015 6:44 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:

> +1 to all your points and proposals: thank you Sharan for the valuable initiative.
>
> Jacopo
>
> On Jan 9, 2015, at 12:23 PM, Sharan-F <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> Hi Everyone
>>
>> I’m currently doing some work around the project branding and have found out
>> that the official project name that has been trademarked is Apache OFBiz and
>> OFBiz.
>>
>> The full list of Apache Trademarks can be found here
>> http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/list/
>> <http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/list/>
>>
>> Although originally OFBiz was just an abbreviation for "Open for Business"
>> now  OFBiz is the only  official name of our project.
>>
>>
>> The words “Open For Business” have not been Apache trademarked. I think this
>> may have been because there are a range of existing organisations that use
>> these words as part of their description and also "The Open For Business
>> Project"  is quite a long name and Apache projects tend to prefer short word
>> names.
>>
>> So what does this mean? – Firstly I think we need to look at modifying our
>> official logo as this still includes the text "The Open For Business
>> Project". This logo is used in our website and also in all of our releases.
>>
>> Then we will also need to do a full review of our website and wiki to
>> replace any references to "Open for Business" with OFBiz.
>>
>> I also plan to do a review of OFBiz integrator / developer websites to
>> ensure that they include the correct attribution for Apache OFBiz and
>> associated trademarks.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Sharan
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> View this message in context: http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/Apache-OFBiz-Project-Trademarks-and-Branding-tp4661054.html
>> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>

--
Ron Wheeler
President
Artifact Software Inc
email: [hidden email]
skype: ronaldmwheeler
phone: [phone], ext 102

[Jacopo Cappellato-4]

On Jan 9, 2015, at 1:43 PM, Jacques Le Roux <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I agree but I think we should explain on main page that OFBiz stands for "Open for Business"

+1

Jacopo

[Ron Wheeler]

How many people have only heard of "Open for Business"?
When did the ofbiz.org and OFBiz name start to get used?

Perhaps this might be a good headline for a page on the mission
statement, vision and history.

I do not see any reason why this phrase can not be used in conjunction
with the trademark.
Many companies associate a slogan with their trademark.
IBM has used "Think" as a slogan. This did not stop Apple from using
"Think different" in its marketing campaign. Apple can not use the IBM
graphic trademark.

SAP could easily use "Open for On-Line Business" even if we use "Open
for Business".
They might have more trouble putting the Apache OFBiz trademark on a
comparison page on their web site if we felt that the comparison was
detrimental to the Apache OFBiz brand. We could not stop them from using
just the text "OFBiz" in their marketing to refer to the product.

Ron

On 09/01/2015 9:26 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:
> On Jan 9, 2015, at 1:43 PM, Jacques Le Roux <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> I agree but I think we should explain on main page that OFBiz stands for "Open for Business"
> +1
>
> Jacopo
>
>


--
Ron Wheeler
President
Artifact Software Inc
email: [hidden email]
skype: ronaldmwheeler
phone: [phone], ext 102

[Jacques Le Roux]

Le 09/01/2015 14:33, Ron Wheeler a écrit :

> I am not sure what you want to do with "Open for Business".
> Trademarks are specific graphic images.
>
> As a slogan, it can still be used but it may not be protected as a trademark.
> Certainly many governments use "Open for Business" as a slogan to indicate that they are business friendly.
>
> I am not a lawyer but I don't see any need to remove it from any pages as long as we understand that it may be used by others for uses unrelated to
> OFBiz.
>
> For example,
> I can write that my software is "Microsoft compatible" but I can not use the Microsoft trademark on my brochures without permission.
> I can put "Open for Business" on my web site to announce that a new service is now available but I can not use the OFBiz graphic if it is an OFBiz
> trademark.

The problem Sharan raised is our "official" log has the "Open for Business Project" text in it
http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/ofbiz/trunk/framework/images/webapp/images/ofbiz_logo.gif?view=markup
It should be rather "OFBiz project", there is no "Open for Business Project" only one "OFBiz project"

Jacques

>
> Ron
>
> On 09/01/2015 6:44 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:
>> +1 to all your points and proposals: thank you Sharan for the valuable initiative.
>>
>> Jacopo
>>
>> On Jan 9, 2015, at 12:23 PM, Sharan-F <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Everyone
>>>
>>> I’m currently doing some work around the project branding and have found out
>>> that the official project name that has been trademarked is Apache OFBiz and
>>> OFBiz.
>>>
>>> The full list of Apache Trademarks can be found here
>>> http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/list/
>>> <http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/list/>
>>>
>>> Although originally OFBiz was just an abbreviation for "Open for Business"
>>> now  OFBiz is the only  official name of our project.
>>>
>>>
>>> The words “Open For Business” have not been Apache trademarked. I think this
>>> may have been because there are a range of existing organisations that use
>>> these words as part of their description and also "The Open For Business
>>> Project"  is quite a long name and Apache projects tend to prefer short word
>>> names.
>>>
>>> So what does this mean? – Firstly I think we need to look at modifying our
>>> official logo as this still includes the text "The Open For Business
>>> Project". This logo is used in our website and also in all of our releases.
>>>
>>> Then we will also need to do a full review of our website and wiki to
>>> replace any references to "Open for Business" with OFBiz.
>>>
>>> I also plan to do a review of OFBiz integrator / developer websites to
>>> ensure that they include the correct attribution for Apache OFBiz and
>>> associated trademarks.
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Sharan
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> View this message in context: http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/Apache-OFBiz-Project-Trademarks-and-Branding-tp4661054.html
>>> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>>
>
>

[Jacques Le Roux]

Le 09/01/2015 15:48, Ron Wheeler a écrit :
> How many people have only heard of "Open for Business"?
hard to say ;)
> When did the ofbiz.org and OFBiz name start to get used?
Around 2005 I'd say, you might refer to our history page (still not created/completed ;)
>
> Perhaps this might be a good headline for a page on the mission statement, vision and history.
+1
>
> I do not see any reason why this phrase can not be used in conjunction with the trademark.
> Many companies associate a slogan with their trademark.
> IBM has used "Think" as a slogan. This did not stop Apple from using "Think different" in its marketing campaign. Apple can not use the IBM graphic
> trademark.
>
> SAP could easily use "Open for On-Line Business" even if we use "Open for Business".
> They might have more trouble putting the Apache OFBiz trademark on a comparison page on their web site if we felt that the comparison was
> detrimental to the Apache OFBiz brand. We could not stop them from using just the text "OFBiz" in their marketing to refer to the product.

Anyway better to refer to http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/

Jacques

>
> Ron
>
> On 09/01/2015 9:26 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:
>> On Jan 9, 2015, at 1:43 PM, Jacques Le Roux <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>>> I agree but I think we should explain on main page that OFBiz stands for "Open for Business"
>> +1
>>
>> Jacopo
>>
>>
>
>

[Ron Wheeler]

On 09/01/2015 10:14 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:

>
> Le 09/01/2015 15:48, Ron Wheeler a écrit :
>> How many people have only heard of "Open for Business"?
> hard to say ;)
>> When did the ofbiz.org and OFBiz name start to get used?
> Around 2005 I'd say, you might refer to our history page (still not
> created/completed ;)
>>
>> Perhaps this might be a good headline for a page on the mission
>> statement, vision and history.
> +1
>>
>> I do not see any reason why this phrase can not be used in
>> conjunction with the trademark.
>> Many companies associate a slogan with their trademark.
>> IBM has used "Think" as a slogan. This did not stop Apple from using
>> "Think different" in its marketing campaign. Apple can not use the
>> IBM graphic trademark.
>>
>> SAP could easily use "Open for On-Line Business" even if we use "Open
>> for Business".
>> They might have more trouble putting the Apache OFBiz trademark on a
>> comparison page on their web site if we felt that the comparison was
>> detrimental to the Apache OFBiz brand. We could not stop them from
>> using just the text "OFBiz" in their marketing to refer to the product.
>
> Anyway better to refer to http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/

It is not sure from that list about what the actual trademarked graphic
is. It just refers back to the OFBiz site where you see a different
image - script OFBiz with the trademark symbol and the text "The Apache
Open for Business Project".

The image that includes both the trademark graphic and the text is
perfectly usable if we want to always have the text displayed with the
trademark.

The image is for our convenience and does not affect the trademark. It
makes sense to have the trademark by itself in a graphic and it makes it
easier to support multiple languages if that image is used in place of
the one with text but there is no reason why the trademark could not be
accompanied by French or Italian text in an image on the site where the
text was in French or Italian. These versions could be included in our
library of images if there was a desire to have a consistent trademark +
text on every French or Italian page.

http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/process/ is a link to the process of
getting a trademark approved.

If you do a search on Apache, you will find 215 trademarks associated
with "Apache" from Stainless steel to Oil and Gas to Skateboards
I did not find any associated with Apache projects (no OFBiz results) so
I am not sure where Apache is registering trademarks.

Ron

>
> Jacques
>
>>
>> Ron
>>
>> On 09/01/2015 9:26 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:
>>> On Jan 9, 2015, at 1:43 PM, Jacques Le Roux
>>> <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I agree but I think we should explain on main page that OFBiz
>>>> stands for "Open for Business"
>>> +1
>>>
>>> Jacopo
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

--
Ron Wheeler
President
Artifact Software Inc
email: [hidden email]
skype: ronaldmwheeler
phone: [phone], ext 102

[Jacques Le Roux]

Le 09/01/2015 16:53, Ron Wheeler a écrit :

> On 09/01/2015 10:14 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>>
>> Le 09/01/2015 15:48, Ron Wheeler a écrit :
>>> How many people have only heard of "Open for Business"?
>> hard to say ;)
>>> When did the ofbiz.org and OFBiz name start to get used?
>> Around 2005 I'd say, you might refer to our history page (still not created/completed ;)
>>>
>>> Perhaps this might be a good headline for a page on the mission statement, vision and history.
>> +1
>>>
>>> I do not see any reason why this phrase can not be used in conjunction with the trademark.
>>> Many companies associate a slogan with their trademark.
>>> IBM has used "Think" as a slogan. This did not stop Apple from using "Think different" in its marketing campaign. Apple can not use the IBM
>>> graphic trademark.
>>>
>>> SAP could easily use "Open for On-Line Business" even if we use "Open for Business".
>>> They might have more trouble putting the Apache OFBiz trademark on a comparison page on their web site if we felt that the comparison was
>>> detrimental to the Apache OFBiz brand. We could not stop them from using just the text "OFBiz" in their marketing to refer to the product.
>>
>> Anyway better to refer to http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/
>
> It is not sure from that list about what the actual trademarked graphic is. It just refers back to the OFBiz site where you see a different image -
> script OFBiz with the trademark symbol and the text "The Apache Open for Business Project".
>
> The image that includes both the trademark graphic and the text is perfectly usable if we want to always have the text displayed with the trademark.
>
> The image is for our convenience and does not affect the trademark. It makes sense to have the trademark by itself in a graphic and it makes it
> easier to support multiple languages if that image is used in place of the one with text but there is no reason why the trademark could not be
> accompanied by French or Italian text in an image on the site where the text was in French or Italian. These versions could be included in our
> library of images if there was a desire to have a consistent trademark + text on every French or Italian page.
>
> http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/process/ is a link to the process of getting a trademark approved.
>
> If you do a search on Apache, you will find 215 trademarks associated with "Apache" from Stainless steel to Oil and Gas to Skateboards
> I did not find any associated with Apache projects (no OFBiz results) so I am not sure where Apache is registering trademarks.

Actually I have no ideas (what in other counrries for instance, etc.) and I don't care much as long as there is no obvious abuses, notably with domain
names.
Note that I have already conducted several campaigns against these abuses. AFAIK, the situation is almost clear now.
Sharan's purpose is different and I can't see any issues with it.

Jacques

>
> Ron
>
>>
>> Jacques
>>
>>>
>>> Ron
>>>
>>> On 09/01/2015 9:26 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:
>>>> On Jan 9, 2015, at 1:43 PM, Jacques Le Roux <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I agree but I think we should explain on main page that OFBiz stands for "Open for Business"
>>>> +1
>>>>
>>>> Jacopo
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>