Apache Trademark FAQs | Apache Software Foundation

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This document answers some of Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the ASF's trademarks and their allowable uses. Be sure to review our formal Trademark Policy document, which outlines important requirements for any uses of Apache project marks.
The following information helps ensure our marks and logos are used in approved ways, while making it easy for the community to understand the guidelines. If you have any questions about the use of logos or trademarks, see our trademark resources or contact us.
See Also: Trademark Resources Site Map.
Yes, the names of all Apache® projects, software products, and their logos are trademarks that the Apache Software Foundation owns on behalf of our project communities. Note that while some Apache project names and logos are registered in the US and various countries, even unregistered names and logos are still trademarks of the ASF and should be treated with respect.
Apache project names have the form "Apache Projectname", for example Apache Hadoop® and Apache OpenOffice®. Read our detailed guide for referring to Apache project and product names. Using the full "Apache Projectname" helps ensure that our volunteer project communities get the credit they deserve.
To properly attribute Apache marks, and to ensure that the volunteer communities that build Apache software get the credit they deserve, place prominent trademark attributions wherever you use Apache marks. On websites, add hyperlinks to the relevant project homepage and to the ASF. For example, to provide an attribution for Apache Hadoop and its yellow elephant logo (using basic HTML with hyperlinks):
Apache®, Apache Hadoop, Hadoop®, and the yellow elephant logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries.
In text, use Apache Lucene® in the first and most prominent uses because it is a registered trademark; some other Apache project names like Apache Zookeeper™ are unregistered but are still considered trademarks of the ASF.
Here is a complete list of trademarks claimed by the ASF.
In general, yes, as long as you comply with the rest of Apache trademark policies, in particular in regard to not claiming association or endorsement of/for/by the ASF. For more details or for explicit permissions, contact us.
The ASF generally requires that you refer to Apache products using the full "Apache Tomcat®" form of its name, especially in prominent places like book titles. However, we do understand that some publishing houses may have specific standards for book titles that prevent this for traditionally printed and bound books. In that case, and only for traditionally printed and bound books, using the bare product name as "Tomcat®" is acceptable as long as there is clear attribution of both forms of the name.
You must include a trademark attribution on the obverse title page or wherever you acknowledge other trademarks and copyrights. A preferred attribution would be:
Apache®, Apache Tomcat, Tomcat®, and the cat logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries. No endorsement by The Apache Software Foundation is implied by the use of these marks.
You may not use the title or presentation of the book's cover, front matter, or other contents to imply association with, endorsement of/by, or any other exclusive or special connection with the ASF or the project's community or product.
We do not require the payment of a royalty for the use of Apache marks or other IP in regularly published books. We certainly do appreciate royalty donations, and a number of publishers have set up systems to donate royalties from their books back to the ASF. You can read more about Donating to the ASF.
Yes, as long as you follow the rest of our formal Trademark Policy. Note that you may not use Apache product word marks as part of any software product name. In particular, you must ensure that you follow our Apache name usage guide and:
Use the unmodified ASF product logo made available for this purpose on the Apache website or on the ASF project's homepage. If you do not find the ASF product logo you want in that collection, ask the ASF project team to add it there.
If you describe the ASF product or project in text, use the "Apache Flink®" form of its name.
Do not visually combine the ASF product logo with any other images, and do not change the appearance of ASF product logos except in cases where it is required by a specific printing restriction (e.g. printing on paper in black and white).
On your website link any Apache project logo to the homepage for that Apache project on the apache.org website.
Include a trademark attribution to Apache Software Foundation in an appropriate place on every page where you identify your own trademarks.
Ensure that your website and marketing materials do not imply ASF endorsement or the affiliation of your products, services, or organization with ASF.
Ensure that your website and marketing materials do not confuse the average user about the source of ASF products or imply that ASF is associated with your products or services in any way.
See also the Powered By Apache logo program.
No, you may not use Apache trademarks - the names of any project or software product releases from the ASF - in the primary or secondary branding of any third party product or service names. For example, you may not name a product either "BigCo Project Thing", "BigCo distribution of Project", or any similar kind of name where Project is any Apache mark or project name.
The primary mission of the ASF is to provide free software for the public good under our Apache License. Consumer confusion over the source of Apache software products is a serious issue for the ASF. Both for consumers trying to find Apache products, and for the communities and PMCs that build our products, the name and logo association of Apache