- No protection.org successfully requests USPTO against the request of WordPress Albejada and WordPress Managed
- However, this is not an absolute denial for registered trademarks
- Move leads some to call the WordPress leadership of Matt Mullenweg in question
Since September 2024, WordPress, led by Matthew Mullenweg, has been locked in a battle with WP Engine for licenses and contributions to the WordPress community.
Until now, the battle has seen the Mullenweg lock engine of open source resources, followed by a court order that required that WP engine access is restored and the developer restrictions are eliminated.
As part of a broader effort to control how the hosts can use the name of WordPress, the WordPress Foundation also tried a registered trademark ‘WordPress housed’ and ‘WordPress administrated’, but the Office of Patents and Brands of the United States ( USPT) has required discharge of responsibility for both terms in both terms in an initial setback for Mullenweg.
Is Mullenweg doing more damage than good for WordPress?
The attacks on the expansion efforts of WP Engine and Markark left many hosts wondering about the future of their WordPress accommodation products and a possible violent reaction of the WordPress Foundation on the infractions of registered trademarks of the open source software.
While this request for the release of initial responsibility gives some relief to the hosts, it is not a denial and the term WordPress housed has already been granted in some counties. If commercial brands are granted, it gives more control to the WordPress Foundation on which web accommodation providers can give licenses for the use of phrases.
WordPress drama has caused many to question if Mullenweg’s actions are harmful instead of strengthening the WordPress community. From the WP engine attack, 159 automatic employees (a company directed by Mullenweg) have gone because they do not agree with their leadership.
The discharge of liability requested in the registered trademarks was presented by a Protected.org, a critical website in Mullenweg.
A spokesman for the site said The registration“This represents a great victory for the WordPress ecosystem, and we will continue to fight until there is responsibility and a change in leadership.”
The spokesman added: “The WordPress ecosystem is ready for a new leadership, and Joost de Valk, Yoast Seo’s developer, is the first one who comes to mind.”
Valk has previously asked the decentralization of WordPress around Mullenweg and create a federated and independent WordPress. In a blog post, he said: “We, the WordPress community, must decide if we are well being led by a single person who controls everything, and we could do things with which we do not agree, or if we want something else. For a project whose motto is “democratizing publication”, we have been very low exactly with that: democracy. “
In response, Mullenwag prohibited De Valk sponsoring and attending any WordPress event. WordPress currently promotes more than 43% of the world’s websites, but as web hosts develop their own website builders and uncertainty about the stability of WordPress Grows, we can see that this number begins to decrease.
