howto:trademarks_and_logo_usage_policy [NethServer Wiki]

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====== Introduction ======

This document, the "Policy," outlines the NethServer project's (the "Project") policy for the use of our trademarks.  While our software is available under a free and open source software license, the copyright license does not include an implied right or license to use our trademark. 

The role of trademarks is to provide assurance about the quality of the products or services with which the trademark is associated. But because an open source license allows your unrestricted modification of the copyrighted software, we cannot be sure that your modifications to the software are ones that will not be misleading if distributed under the same name. Instead, this Policy describes the circumstances under which you may use our trademarks. 

We want to encourage and facilitate the use of our trademarks by the community, but do so in a way that still ensures that the trademarks are meaningful as a source and quality indicator for our software and the associated goods and services and continue to embody the high reputation of the software and the community associated with it. This Policy therefore tries to strike the proper balance between: 1) our need to ensure that our trademarks remain reliable indicators of the qualities that they are meant to preserve and 2) our community members' desire to be full participants in the Project.

====== Our trademarks ======

This Policy covers:

1. Our word trademarks and service marks (the "Word Marks"): NethServer

2. Our logos (the "Logos"):  full logo, logo type, logo for docuwiki


===== Acceptable uses =====

* You may use the NethServer Marks in connection with your //noncommercial// redistribution of bit-for-bit identical copies of official NethServer releases, and (2) unmodified copies of official NethServer source packages.

* You may use the NethServer Marks in themes, personas, or skins for applications to show your support for the NethServer Project, provided that the use is noncommercial and is clearly decorative, as contrasted with a use that is likely to be understood as the branding for a website or application.

* You can use the Word Marks in book, article and presentations, and the Logo in illustrations within the document, as long as the use does not suggest that we have published, endorse, or agree with your work. 

* You may make promotional goods for free giveaway at open source conferences and events using only the designs found on our site.

* You can use Work Marks and Logos to promote the software and Project at events.


==== Websites ====

You may use the Word Marks and Logos, but not the Trade Dress, on your webpage to show your support for the Project as long as:

* The website has branding that is easily distinguished from the Project Trade Dress;
* You own branding or naming is more prominent than any Project Marks;
* The Logos hyperlink to the Project website;
* The site does not mislead customers into thinking that either your website, service, or product is our website, service, or product; and
* The site clearly states that you are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Project.

=====Unacceptable uses=====

* You may not use or register, in whole or in part, the Marks as part of your own trademark, service mark, domain name, company name, trade name, product name or service name.

* Trademark law does not allow your use of names or trademarks that are too similar to ours. You therefore may not use an obvious variation of any of our Marks or any phonetic equivalent, foreign language equivalent, takeoff, or abbreviation for a similar or compatible product or service. We would consider the following too similar to one of our Marks:
  Example:  Nethserver, nethserver, nethdistro

* You can't sale the Logos Marks on promotional goods 

* You may not change any Logo except to scale it. This means you may not add decorative elements, change the colors, change the proportions, distort it, add elements, or combine it with other logos.
  However, when the context requires the use of black-and-white graphics and the logo is color, you may reproduce the logo in a manner that produces a black-and-white image.

* You may not use Word Marks and Logos for commercial use unless explicitly granted by Nethesis.
  For example, a consulting company can describe its business as “123 Web Services, offering WordPress consulting for small businesses,” but cannot call its business “The NethServer Consulting Company.” Similarly, a business related to NethServer themes can describe itself as “XYZ Themes, the world’s best NethServer themes,” but cannot call itself “The NethServer Theme Portal.”
  Please note that it is not the goal of this policy to limit commercial activity around WordPress. We encourage NethServer-based businesses, and hundreds of them are thriving while in compliance with this policy.

====== Further information ======

If you have any questions about this Policy, would like to speak with us about the use of our Marks in ways not described in the Policy, or see any abuse of our Marks, please info@nethesis.it .

Document based on Model Trademark Guidelines ((These guidelines are based on the Model Trademark Guidelines, available at http://www.modeltrademarkguidelines.org., used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US))