--- title: "Write a trademark policy for the project ยท Agent Wranglers" url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/open-source/licences-and-copyright/trademark-policy id: OSS-45 level: Recommended updated: 2026-10-27 build: a2a6bdfed830 tokens: 605 licence: "CC BY 4.0" licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ --- # Write a trademark policy for the project name and logo For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Licences and copyright](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/open-source/licences-and-copyright.md). By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-27. - ID: OSS-45 - Level: Recommended - Chapter: [Licences and copyright](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/open-source/licences-and-copyright.md) - Rule: 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. - 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. - How: 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](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/open-source/maintainers-and-governance/project-owned-accounts.md), never one maintainer, so they survive a departure. ## Sources - [Apache License 2.0, section 6](https://opensource.org/license/apache-2-0) ## Related rules - OSS-17 [Hold the project's accounts in an organisation](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/open-source/maintainers-and-governance/project-owned-accounts.md) in Open source maintenance **For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `Agent Wranglers open source maintenance playbook`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link. - Previous: [Changing the licence without every copyright holder's consent](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/open-source/licences-and-copyright/relicensing-consent.md) - [Licences and copyright](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/open-source/licences-and-copyright.md)