MariaDB Trademark Policy

Intro

MariaDB and the seal logo, either separately or in combination, are trademarks of SkySQL Corporation Ab "SkySQL", and are hereafter referred to as "the trademarks."

Goal

This trademark policy should:

• Allow a fairly liberal usage of the trademarks by the community of MariaDB users and contributors.
• Encourage use of the trademarks in advocacy and commercial business building.
• Help build a healthy and maintainable commercial ecosystem around MariaDB.
• Prevent confusion in the marketplace.

The primary goal, which we hope to accomplish by achieving the above, is to maintain a high quality trademark with sensible and understandable management.

Short Form (for the lazy)

SkySQL allows you to use the trademarks fairly freely, given:

• Your use does not cause confusion about what MariaDB is and what it is not.
• You make every attempt to refer people to the MariaDB project (mariadb.org) wherever reasonably possible.
• Any names you choose for work you create do not use "MariaDB" primarily, but only secondarily ("Datascope: A GUI for MariaDB Management" is OK. "MariaDB Manager" is not.)
• Your use does not imply endorsement from the project or its constituents.

SkySQL reserves the right to review any usage, and act to ensure the trademark is protected from active harm caused by confusion and conflict. SkySQL, like any future owner or manager of the trademarks, must actively drive the communal development of MariaDB or risk loss of ownership and/or management.

MariaDB's Extended Fair Use

Typical fair use of the trademarks is expected and no specific permission from us is needed. MariaDB is built by and for its community. We share access to the trademarks with the entire community for the purposes of discussion, development, and advocacy. Anyone should feel free to mention MariaDB or display our project's logos. When using the trademarks under conventional fair use, please observe the following simple rules:

• What you are referring to is in fact MariaDB. If someone is confused into thinking that what isn't MariaDB is in fact MariaDB, you are probably doing something wrong. See below for "Extended Usage" of the trademarks.
• There is no confusion that your work is unique, and your use does not connotate official endorsement by the MariaDB project, any of its participants (including SkySQL), or licensees of the trademarks.
• Where applicable, you provide means to find the official MariaDB project and its work (e.g. link the MariaDB logo on your web site to mariadb.org).
• Additional guidelines for logo use are below.

Anyone is free to write articles, blog about, or talk about MariaDB as long as it's clear to everyone, including people completely unfamiliar with MariaDB, that they are simply referring to MariaDB and in no way speaking for SkySQL or the MariaDB project.

Extended Usage

Use of the trademarks in connection with projects derived from, related to, or including MariaDB is allowed, but must clearly indicate that the work derives from, makes use of, or contains MariaDB, but is not MariaDB. The trademarks may not be used in any way that suggests an affiliation with or endorsement by SkySQL or the MariaDB open source project. This secondary usage extends to the commercial marketplace.

For example, a consulting company can describe its business as "123 Web Services: Offering MariaDB consulting for small businesses" or "DB Advanced: A MariaDB expert consultancy" but cannot call its business "The MariaDB Consulting Company." Similarly, for software projects, phrases such as "built from MariaDB" or "powered by MariaDB" or "contains MariaDB" are permitted, but "MariaDB Next Generation" is not. For projects based on MariaDB, any extended use of the trademarks requires a statement in some prominent location stating that end users are receiving modified MariaDB software, and informing them where they can get unmodified MariaDB software.

This policy should allow individuals, communities, and businesses to refer to, discuss, promote, develop, and support MariaDB, while ensuring there is minimal confusion in the marketplace about what is official, and what is not. We reserve the right to review all usage, and to object to any usage that appears to cause confusion, cause conflict, or otherwise dilute the value of the trademarks.

Restricted Usage

Any usage of the trademarks in any way other than uses outlined above requires explicit authorization. Such usage includes, but is not limited to:

• As a primary element in the branding of your work (e.g. your new GPL GUI tool "MariaDB Maestro" or your new Byelorussian company "MariaDB In Minsk").
• Use in a top-level domain name or URL.
• Use for merchandising purposes (e.g. on clothing or gear).

If you wish to have permission for any of the uses above, or for any other use which is not specifically referred to in this policy, please contact us at community dot mariadb dot org and we'll let you know as soon as possible if your proposed use is permissible. Permission may only be granted subject to certain conditions and these may include the requirement that you enter into an agreement with us to maintain the quality at a prescribed level of the product and/or service which you intend to supply. When using the trademarks under permission from SkySQL on your web site, you need to have prominent links to mariadb.org and state that your use of the trademarks is by permission from SkySQL.

While there may be exceptions, it is very unlikely that we will approve trademark use in the following cases:

• Use of a trademark in a manner that creates a "combined mark," especially use that integrates other wording with the trademark in a way that causes confusion or conveys an impression that the existing trademarks have now changed in some way (e.g. "MariaDB Jr" or "MariaDB Databases").
• Use in combination with any product or service which is presented as being Certified or Official or formally associated with us or our products or services.
• Use in a way which implies an endorsement where that doesn't exist, or which attempts to unfairly or confusingly capitalize on the goodwill or brand of the project.
• Use of a trademark in a manner that disparages MariaDB or SkySQL and is not clearly third-party parody.
• On or in relation to a software product which constitutes a substantially modified version of a product supplied by the MariaDB project, that is to say with material changes to the code, or services relating to such a product.

While there may be exceptions, it is very likely that we will approve trademark use in the following cases:

• The use is not conflicting with any other product or service.
• Your project is designed for MariaDB and you are doing your best to ensure it works with all current and future MariaDB versions.
• You are promoting the usage of MariaDB.
• Your project is actively developed and of high software quality.
• Your project neither promotes nor is associated with entities that currently fail to comply with the GPL license under which MariaDB is distributed.

Logo Usage

MariaDB logos are covered by the policies above. Thus, displaying MariaDB logos when describing your products or services is permitted, but using our logos as an inherent part of your own is not. To avoid confusion, our logo designs should always be used in a standalone manner.

Our logos are presented in multiple colours and it is important that their visual integrity be maintained. It is therefore preferable that the logos only be used in their standard form but if you should feel the need to alter them in any way you should keep the following guidelines in mind. It should also be borne in mind that the more you wish to vary our logos from their standard form the smaller is the chance that we will be able to approve your proposed use.

• If presented in multiple colours, the logo should only use the official logo colours.
• You may use transparency and gradient/depth tools but should retain the official colours.
• A monochrome version may be acceptable in certain situations, if the use requires it (e.g. desktop backgrounds).
• Any scaling must retain the original proportions of the logo.

Public Promise

This policy requires SkySQL to maintain its role as active and primary developer of MariaDB. If SkySQL should fail to do so, the trademark management will automatically be assigned to a non-profit organization like the MariaDB Foundation. The same promise will trigger should SkySQL be bought and the buyer fail to maintain its role as active and primary developer of MariaDB.

Any future owners or managers of the trademarks shall themselves be bound by this same policy, or will forfeit ownership, management, or both.

License of this document

This document is distributed under a CC-BY-SA license. Substantial portions of this document are based upon the trademark agreements of Ubuntu and WordPress. Our thanks to both for the ability to copy and paste.