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Can anyone explain the alleged legal basis of this (https://www.raspberrypi.org/trademark-rules/ https://www.raspberrypi.org/trademark-rules/)? "You may not: .
by bloak 6y ago
Can anyone explain the alleged legal basis of this (https://www.raspberrypi.org/trademark-rules/ https://www.raspberrypi.org/trademark-rules/)?
"You may not: ... use the Raspberry Pi Word Mark as part of the domain name for your website"
I thought it used to be possible to register X-is-crap.com for your web site that tells the world exactly how you feel about X, even if X was a registered trade mark, provided you're using X to refer to "genuine" X. If this has changed, when did it change?
- dmurray 6y agoCorrect: Raspberry Pi don't have the absolute right to prevent you from having websites with "raspberry-pi" in the domain name. If you treat this document as legal advice from RPi, it was not written in good faith. If you treat it as a licensing agreement or a contract instead, it would be plausible to include clauses like this. "You may do A, B and C, but you may not do D" = "by entering into this agreement you acquire the rights to do A, B and C in return for foregoing the right to do D". That would be perfectly fine. I don't see anything in the document that grants you rights you didn't already have (to use RPi's IP only in accordance with fair use). Additionally, it describes itself as "guidelines" and never as a contract or an agreement. So, bad faith it is. Here's a substantial review of the treatment of "gripe sites" in US law [0]. In general, the legal situation has been that if your site is non-commercial, then your use of the trademark, including in a domain name, is protected free speech. [0] https://www.sgrlaw.com/ttl-articles/858/ https://www.sgrlaw.com/ttl-articles/858/
- yrro 6y agoThe trademark rules are just the Raspberry Pi Foundation's opinion. They don't necessarily line up with what is legally permissible.