NixOS
Registering the NixOS Trademark
There is a lengthy legal process to register the NixOS trademark.
What's the process?
- Eelco, Ron and Armijn have interviewed multiple trademark registering teams and began engagement
- We've worked with the trademark team based on their guidance to define the wording of it.
- Define what we are registering : Nix + logo
- Initiate registration process and pay fees for each country (each registration process will take 3 - 6 months) in EU € 1850,00 in UK € 950,00 in US € 1990,00
- Work across the community to define the trademark policy based on issue https://github.com/NixOS/foundation/issues/36
This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:
https://discourse.nixos.org/t/wiki-nixos-org-is-now-live/42570/33
Hey, any progress on this? I suggested a trademark for NixOS could help with the transition to the new wiki.
I am not a lawyer, but why is it necessary to register the trademark in all those jurisdictions? As Nix is a software product, it is unlikely someone would violate the trademark in a single market. Any software available on the internet would violate the trademark in each jurisdiction, so having the protection for a single area should be sufficient.
Also, is the first "country" supposed to be EU? It says UE.
Correct, it's supposed to be EU. I would need to refresh the conversation on this as it's been a minute since a few other priorities came up but to the best of my knowledge it was recommended to us to incorporate in those three major jurisdictions in general. Since this would also have coverage of items beyond just software services and can also include physical/events as well. Happy to dig into it more if you'd like!
It will not be relevant to the Wiki after all, but I recommend the trademark if the foundation can afford it (at least in one jurisdiction). Getting a trade mark is like insurance: hopefully useless, but if you need it, you will be very glad to have it.
a trademark for NixOS could help with the transition to the new wiki.
It will not be relevant to the Wiki after all
Not only will it not be relevant, it won't be possible. Trademarks cannot be used for retroactive takedowns.
All major trademark jurisdictions operate with the concept of "prior use". So if you were to build a case to legally attack nixos.wiki for using a trademark that existed only years after nixos.wiki was an accepted community site, a lawsuit is entirely non-trivial. Not to mention: A bad idea. Maybe you haven't been in a lawsuit before. The consequences financially, emotionally and culturally are so damaging that the cost would not justify the intended outcome.
This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:
https://discourse.nixos.org/t/determinate-nix-3-0/61202/133