Trademark Guidelines - NumFOCUS

Our commitment to open source principles & high standards of conduct
Trademarks subject to the guidelines
Universal considerations for all uses
Use for non-software goods and services
General considerations about our trademarks and their use
This document, the “Policy,” sets forth the policy for the use of our trademarks. While our software is available under an 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. 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.
In this Policy, we are not trying to limit proper use of our trademarks, but rather describe for you what we consider the parameters of proper use to be. We hope to provide enough clarity for you to understand whether we will consider your use to be proper.
The sections that follow describe what trademarks are covered by this Policy, as well as trademark uses that are allowed without additional permissions from us.
If you would like to use our trademarks in ways that are not described in this Policy, please see “Where to get further information” below for contact information.
Any use that does not comply with this Policy or for which we have not separately provided written permission is not a use that we have approved. We reserve the right to revoke permission for any of the approved uses set forth in this Policy at any time. This Policy is also subject to change at any time, at our discretion. We will send out a notification when making changes to this policy. You can subscribe to our newsletter here in order to receive these and other notifications.
This Policy strives to strike the proper balance between 1) our need to ensure that our trademarks remain reliable indicators of quality, 2) our need to ensure that we preserve the integrity of the community which these marks represent and 3) our community members’ desire to be full participants in the Project.
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 organization and its associated goods and services. This will allow us to continue to embody the high reputation of our Projects and the community associated with them.
We expect that any use of our marks will be in accordance with our Code of Conduct. Those using our marks are a reflection of our community and we would not condone any use, allowed or otherwise, that does not adhere to these high standards of conduct.
This Policy covers our word trademarks and service marks (the “Word Marks”) and our Logos (the “Logos”), including NumFOCUS, PyData and all of our Fiscally Sponsored Projects (collectively “Projects”).
This Policy encompasses all trademarks and service marks, whether Word Marks or Logos which are collectively referred to as the “Marks.” Some Marks may not be registered, but registration does not equal ownership of trademarks. This Policy covers our Marks whether they are registered or not.
The following trademarks are reserved exclusively for our use and may not be used unless you have obtained prior authorization from us:
Contact us as described in “Where to get further information” below if you have questions or want to ask permission to use any of these excluded trademarks.
Whenever you use one of our Marks, you must always do so in a way that does not mislead anyone, either directly or by omission, about exactly what they are getting and from whom. You cannot say you are distributing a NumFOCUS project’s software when you’re distributing a modified version of it, because people would be confused when they are not getting the same features and functionality they would get if they downloaded the software directly from a project’s download or installation site. You also cannot use our logos without permission on your website in a way that suggests that your website is an official website, that we endorse your website, or that you are a corporate sponsor.
You can, though, say you like NumFOCUS Projects, that you participate in a NumFOCUS Project community, that you are providing an unmodified version of our Project’s software, or that you wrote a book describing how to use our Project’s software.
This fundamental requirement, that it is always clear to people what they are getting and from whom, is reflected throughout this Policy. It should also serve as your guide if you are not sure about how you are using the Marks.
You must never use the Marks in any way that reflects poorly on our community. You must never use our marks in such a way as to promote, condone, or represent any behavior that is prohibited by our Code of Conduct or any person or entity whose comportment violates our Code of Conduct.
You may not use the Marks in association with the use or distribution of software if you are also not in compliance with the copyright license for the software.
You may not use or register, in whole or in part, our Marks as part of your own trademark, service mark, domain name, company name, trade name, product name or service name.
You may not use names or trademarks that are similar to ours without first obtaining written approval. 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.
You may not acquire any rights in the Marks and any goodwill generated by your use of the Marks inures solely to our benefit.
You may not use our marks for any commercial purposes without prior