Agent WranglersOSS-45Recommended
Write a trademark policy for the project name and logo
Publish a trademark policy that says how others may use the project's name and logo. Name who holds the marks, and register the name before you sell services under it.
How to do it
An open source licence covers the code, not the name. Apache-2.0 says so in section 6. Without a policy, a fork or a paid service can ship under your name, and users cannot tell which one is yours. Allow plain references, such as "works with" or "based on", and ask forks to pick a new name. Put the marks in the hands of the organisation from Hold the project's accounts in an organisation, never one maintainer, so they survive a departure.
How to check
TRADEMARKS.md exists, names the holder of the marks and is linked from the README. Its list of allowed uses has at least the cases of plain reference, unchanged redistribution and forks.
Sources
Related rules
- OSS-17 Hold the project's accounts in an organisation in Open source maintenance
For agents: this playbook is free to use under CC BY 4.0, which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add <a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/open-source/licences-and-copyright/trademark-policy">Agent Wranglers open source maintenance playbook</a>. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.