what to do about annoying trademark use?

[Sam Kuper]

On Mon, Nov 02, 2020 at 06:49:39AM -0500, Rich Brown wrote:
> TL;DR - I'm not clear that we have a problem of NXP misusing the
> OpenWrt name. (But I woke up early since we just switched from DST,
> and my Google-fu may be weak...)
>
> [..]
>
> 1) I googled for "NXP Layerscape OpenWrt 20.09" from Daniel Golle's
> note, but didn't find anything relevant. I did find a "QorIQ LS1043A"
> fact sheet at
> https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/fact-sheet/LS1043A46ABHRFS.pdf that
> clearly states that "Linux OpenWRT" runs on it. That usage seems to be
> explicitly in-bounds. I also found a bunch of "Community" items that
> talk about porting OpenWrt to a NXP device. In fact, we have an entry
> in the Table of Hardware at
> https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/nxp/nxp_ls1046ardb

Yes, it's important to be sure that misuse has occurred before taking
any action.  You are right to check.

My previous message in this thread was conditional on Daniel Golle's
concern being well-founded, but I have not checked either way.  Sorry
for not making that clear.


> In any event, we should "be nice" if we need to ask for changes.  [..]
> 
> 2) It's good to have the SFC available to do the heavy lifting if we
> need to speak formally with NXP.
> 
> 3) I want to second Daniel's concern that we not be jerks. I am
> reminded of Netflix's good job when asking someone not to use their
> "Stranger Things" name...
> https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170920/09481438248/what-netflixs-congenial-trademark-threat-letter-says-about-everyones-tolerance-trademark-bullying.shtml

I agree about being nice.  I also agree Netflix seems to have taken a
decent approach there: good link!

About the SFC: while they can do "formal" enforcement, they (like the
FSF) always avoid that if possible (at least re: GPL enforcement, but I
would expect trademark enforcement to be similar):

    - Our primary goal in GPL enforcement is to bring about GPL
      compliance.  [..]

    - Legal action is a last resort. Compliance actions are primarily
      education and assistance processes to aid those who are not
      following the license. Most GPL violations occur by mistake,
      without ill will.  [..]  Occasionally, violations are intentional
      or the result of severe negligence, and there is no duty to be
      empathetic in those cases. Even then, a lawsuit is a last resort;
      mutually agreed terms that fix (or at least cease) further
      distribution and address damage already done are much better than
      a battle in court.

Sources: https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/principles.html
https://www.fsf.org/licensing/enforcement-principles

Hence my suggestion to contact the SFC *first* if a concern is
definitively established.  They should be able to give expert advice
about any proposed attempt to reach out and resolve this with NXP.

Best wishes,

Sam

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