This document outlines the policy and guidelines of the Apache
Software Foundation (ASF) for the trademarks and graphic logos
we use to identify ASF and any software developed and distributed
by ASF. The Apache Software Foundation owns all Apache-related
trademarks, service marks, and graphic logos.
The following information helps ensure our marks and logos are
used in approved ways, while making it easy for the community
to understand the guidelines. If you have any questions about
the use of logos or trademarks that are not addressed in these
guidelines, feel free to
contact us.
Apache trademarks, service marks, and graphics marks are symbols
of the quality and community support that people have come to
associate with projects of the Apache Software Foundation. To
ensure that the use of ASF marks will not lead to confusion about
our software, we must control their use in association with
software and related services by other companies. Also, as a US
based corporation, we have a legal responsibility and the authority
to set guidelines for the use of our marks.
The Apache Software Foundation and its software must be clearly
distinguishable from any software that competes with ASF software,
and from software or services by any company or individual that is
not part of Apache Software Foundation.
Our marks must not be used to disparage the Apache Software
Foundation, our projects, members, sponsors or communities, nor
be used in any way to imply ownership, endorsement, or sponsorship
of any ASF-related project or initiative of any kind.
The Apache Public Relations Committee (PRC)
is the formal body within the ASF responsible for setting policy
and answering questions about the use of our logos and trademarks,
along with other responsibilities. The Committee is made up of
elected members of the ASF who have shown merit in the public
relations and sponsorship areas.
This document is not intended to summarize the complex law of
trademarks. It will be useful, however, to understand the
following key principles:
- What is a trademark?
-
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or
design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs,
that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of
one party from those of others. A service mark
is the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and
distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product.
Throughout this policy document, the terms "trademark" and
"mark" refer to both trademarks and service marks.
These rules are generalized to describe ASF software associated
with the trademark "Apache Foo", or more generally "Foo" when
it is understood to refer to this specific Apache Foo software.
Like most ASF software, this Foo software is maintained by the
Apache Foo project, or by the Foo sub-project of another project,
such as the "Apache Incubator" (itself an ASF trademark).
ASF's trademarks are either words (e.g., "Apache" and
"Apache Foo" and "Foo") or graphic logos that are intended to
serve as trademarks for that Apache software. The Apache
feather is also an ASF trademark for Apache software which
has special meaning for ASF and special rules regarding its use.
Within ASF, during our product release activity and on ASF
websites, we will make sure that our trademarks are marked
with a (TM) or (R) symbol or shown with trademark notices
where appropriate so that everyone will recognize them as
ASF trademarks, and by providing a list of ASF
trademarks.
- What is nominative use?
-
Anyone can use ASF trademarks if that use of the trademark
is nominative. The "nominative use" (or "nominative fair use")
defense to trademark infringement is a legal doctrine that
authorizes everyone (even commercial companies) to use another
person's trademark as long as three requirements are met:
-
The product or service in question must be one not readily
identifiable without use of the trademark; (for example, it
is not easy to identify Apache Hadoop software without using
the trademark "Hadoop")
-
Only so much of the mark or marks may be used as is
reasonably necessary to identify the product or service; and
-
The organization using the mark must do nothing that would,
in conjunction with the mark, suggest sponsorship or
endorsement by the trademark holder.
The trademark nominative fair use defense is intended to
encourage people to refer to trademarked goods and services
by using the trademark itself. This trademark defense has
nothing to do with copyright fair use and should not be
confused with those rules.
- What is the "confusing similarity" or "likelihood of confusion" test?
-
Some uses of another person's trademark are nominative fair
use, but some uses are simply infringing. Indeed, if a
trademark is used in such a way that the relevant consuming
public will likely be confused or mistaken about the source
of a product or service sold or provided using the mark in
question, then likelihood of confusion exists and the mark
has been infringed.
Note that, even if there is no likelihood of confusion, you
may still be liable for using another company's trademark if
you are blurring or tarnishing their mark under the state
and/or federal dilution laws.
To avoid infringing ASF's marks, you should verify that your
use of our marks is nominative and that you are not likely to
confuse software consumers that your software is the same as
ASF's software or is endorsed by ASF. This policy is already
summarized in section 6 of the
Apache License, and so it is a
condition for your use of Apache software:
This License does not grant permission to use the trade names,
trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
except as required for reasonable and customary use in
describing the origin of the Work and reproducing the content
of the NOTICE file.
The following Specific Guidelines apply to the "Apache" word
trademark and the "Apache feather" graphic trademark, as well
as the trademarks and graphic logos for typical "Apache Foo"
and "Foo" software produced by each of the ASF's projects.
The complete list of all ASF trademarks can be found
here.
- Examples of permitted nominative fair use:
-
-
"Free copies of Foo software under the Apache License
and support services for Foo are available at my own
company website."
-
"Derivative works of Foo software and support services
for those derivative works are available under my own
trademarks at my website."
Please remember that, under trademark law, you may not
apply trademarks to your derivative works of Foo software
that are confusingly similar to "Foo" or "Apache Foo" or
the Foo graphic logo trademarks.
-
"Foo software is faster (or slower) than Myco software."
-
"I recommend (or don't recommend) Foo software for your
business."
-
"This <here> is the graphic logo for Apache Foo
software."
- Using Apache trademarks in book and article titles:
-
You may write about Apache Foo software, and use our
trademarks in book or article titles. You needn't ask us for
permission to refer to Foo, as in "Foo for Dummies", or
"Explaining Foo", or "Foo Simplified", or "O'Reilly Guide
to Foo", or even "Avoiding Foo".
We prefer that you refer to "Apache Foo" rather than simply
"Foo" in the title if it fits, and we request that you
clearly identify that "Apache", "Apache Foo", and "Foo" are
trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation wherever you
normally acknowledge important trademarks in your book or
article.
-
Using the Apache feather logo to identify ASF and link
to www.apache.org:
-
The Apache feather logo is a special trademark to the members
of the Apache Software Foundation and we intend to prevent
its use in association with other companies’ software or
related services.
You needn't ask us for permission to use the Apache feather
logo (the version published by us
here) on your own website
solely as a hyperlink to www.apache.org.
All other uses of the Apache feather logo must be approved
in writing by the Apache PRC.
- Using the Apache Foo (and similar) graphic logos:
-
Graphic logos are contributed to ASF by artists as a way
of creating a symbol with which the Apache project software
can be identified. Examples of logos are the Hadoop elephant,
the SpamAssassin arrow, or even the graphic way that the word
"Maven" is spelled with an orange letter "a". Those graphic
logos are special to the Apache projects that mark their
software and their project websites with those logos.
You needn't ask us for permission to use Apache's graphics
logos (the versions published on individual project's websites)
on your own website solely as a hyperlink to the specific
Apache project website or to www.apache.org.
All other uses of Apache Foo (and similar) graphic logos must
be approved in writing by the Apache PRC.
Unlike ASF's word trademarks (such as "Apache" and "Foo"),
our graphic logos are also licensed to the public under the
Apache License. That license permits you to create derivative
works of those logos, as with any other Apache copyrighted
work. However, trademark law does not allow you to apply
any "confusingly similar" derivative logo to software if a
relevant consumer would likely be confused by that use of
that derivative logo.
If you have any questions or concerns about the use of or
changes to any ASF graphic trademark, ask the Apache PRC.
- Using Apache trademarks on merchandise:
-
You must obtain prior written approval from the Apache PRC
to apply the "Apache", "Apache Foo" or "Foo" trademarks or
their graphic logos to any merchandise that is intended to
be associated in people's minds with Apache Foo software or
any Apache software.
Permission to apply ASF trademarks (including graphic logos)
may be granted for merchandise that promotes the Apache
Software Foundation, the Apache Foo project and Foo software.
Permission to apply ASF trademarks will ordinarily be denied
for merchandise that disparages Apache software or projects
or that would serve to detract from the value of Apache
software and its brands.
- Using Apache trademarks in domain names:
-
You may not use ASF trademarks such as "Apache" or "ApacheFoo"
or "Foo" in your own domain names if that use would be likely
to confuse a relevant consumer about the source of software or
services provided through your website, without written
approval of the Apache PRC. You should apply the "likelihood
of confusion" test described above, and please realize that
the use of ASF trademarks in your domain names is never
"nominative fair use."
If you have any questions about whether your proposed domain
name conflicts with ASF's trademarks,
contact the Apache PRC.
- Using Apache Trademarks in relation to conferences and events:
-
Certain ASF trademarks are reserved exclusive for official
Apache Software Foundation activities. For example,
"ApacheCon" is our exclusive trademark for our regular ASF
conferences, and the Apache feather is intended for ASF use
at events in which we participate.
Individual ASF projects (such as "Apache Foo") often create
their own conferences and events, or join with other
organizations or companies to hold joint conferences or
events. Any conflicting use of ASF trademarks (including
trademarks related to our projects) in relation to conferences
or events must be approved in writing from the Apache
Conferences Committee (Concom).
Contact the Apache Conferences Committee for further
guidance on the use of ASF trademarks in relation to
conferences or events.
- The following uses of ASF trademarks are probably infringing:
-
-
Confusingly similar software product names.
-
Software service offerings that are for anything other
than official ASF-distributed software.
-
Company names that may be associated in customer's minds
with ASF or its trademarked project software.
Nothing in this ASF policy statement shall be interpreted
to allow any third party to claim any association with the Apache
Software Foundation or any of its projects or to imply any approval
or support by ASF for any third party products or services.