- WP Engine says Automattic went after 10 other companies for royalties
- Stripe was contacted to terminate its WP Engine contract, the hosting platform claims
- Automattic says this is just an attempt to revive old complaints that have been dismissed
WP Engine has filed a third update to its complaint against Automattic and CEO Matt Mullenweg, focusing on the WordPress trademark and whether WP Engine contributes enough to the open source platform.
Mullenweg had previously demanded 8% of WP Engine’s monthly gross revenue as a royalty for using the WordPress brand on the grounds that it did not provide enough for the open source platform, but WP Engine sued, alleging abuse of power.
The latest update claims that Mullenweg had also planned to target 10 other hosting companies with similar royalty demands.
WP Engine updates its complaint against Automattic
“WP Engine’s Third Amended Complaint contains newly redacted information disclosed during discovery that had previously been sealed at the request of the defendants,” the hosting company wrote in a blog update.
The complaint says Newfold Digital already pays Automattic for trademark use — the names of the other companies were redacted.
WP Engine even claims that Mullenweg had tried to pressure Stripe into canceling WP Engine’s payment processing contract after the lawsuit was filed.
In response, Automattic says the renewed filing is merely an attempt to repackage old claims and that it is confident the courts will reject them. “There is nothing new here. This is the same narrative that WP Engine has been pushing for over a year, and the court has already rejected many of its central claims,” added an Automattic spokesperson.
In November 2025, WP Engine filed to dismiss counterclaims issued by Automattic, Matt Mullenweg, the WordPress Foundation, and WooCommerce.
Previous updates include “new facts revealed during discovery” in a Second Amendment and antitrust claims in a First Amendment.
“The court’s Motion to Dismiss ruling allows the majority of WP Engine’s claims, including the intentional interference, unfair competition, and defamation claims, to proceed,” WP Engine added.
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