- Unprotected.org successfully draws USPTO against the application for hosted WordPress and managed WordPress
- However, this is not an absolute denial of the trademarks
- Move leads some to call Matt Mullenwegs WordPress management in doubt
Since September 2024, WordPress, led by Matthew Mullenweg, has been locked in a match with a WP engine on license and contribution to the WordPress community.
So far, the battle has seen Mullenweg Block WP engine from Open Source resources, followed by a legal decision that required the WP engine’s access to be reintroduced and restrictions to developers removed.
As part of a broader effort to control how hosts can use the WordPress name, the WordPress Foundation also tried to be the trademark ‘Hosted WordPress’ and ‘Managed WordPress’, but the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has demanded disclaimers For both terms in both terms in a first setback for Mullenweg.
Does Mullenweg do more damage than good for WordPress?
The attacks on WP engine and trademark extension efforts left many hosts speculating on the future of their WordPress hosting products and possible setbacks from the WordPress Foundation of trademark violations of the open-source software.
While this initial request for a disclaimer provides some relief to hosts, it is not a rejection and the expression that hosts WordPress has already been awarded in some counties. If the trademarks are allocated, it gives more control to the WordPress Foundation, as web hosting providers they can provide licenses for the use of the sentences.
The WordPress drama has led many to question whether Mullenweg’s actions are harmful rather than strengthening the WordPress community. Since the attack on the WP engine, 159 have automatically (a company operated by Mullenweg) abandoned because they disagree with his management.
The requested disclaimer on the trademarks was submitted by unespressed.org, a website that is critical at Mullenweg.
A spokesman from the told site Registered“This represents a great victory for the WordPress ecosystem and we will continue to fight until there is accountability and a change in leadership.”
The spokesman added, “The WordPress ecosystem is ready for new leadership, and Joost de Valk, the developer of Yoast SEO, is the first to think of.”
De Valk has previously called for the decentralization of WordPress around Mullenweg and to create a federal and independent WordPress. In a blog post, he said: “We, the WordPress community, have to decide whether we are in order to be led by a single person who controls everything and maybe do things we disagree with or whether we want something else. For a project whose tagline is “democratization of publishing”, we have been very low on exactly that: democracy. “
In response, the Mullenwag de Valk banned to sponsor and attend WordPress events. WordPress currently drives over 43% of the world’s websites, but when web hosts develop their own site builders and uncertainty about the stability of WordPress growing, we may see that the number is starting to fall.
