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Linux Mark Institute: Protecting the Linux trademark

For example, there was a site started called linuxchix.org. This was great, as it met a real need and made people happy. Unfortunately, there was soon a site called linuxchix.com, which advertised pornography. While some people might not complain about this, Linus and I (and more importantly Tove, Linus' wife) felt that applying the term "Linux" to pornography was not the proper thing to do. So an appropriate letter from our attorney, Mr. Gerry Davis of Davis and Schroeder, to the offending party quickly got the reference to pornography removed from the URL.

People also repeatedly try to license the name "Linux University." Linus and I both agree that we would like to see MANY Linux universities around the world, so we refuse to let anyone claim to be THE Linux University. If you want to trademark "Linux University of New South Wales," we will probably license that, but not just "Linux University."

Are these rules arbitrary? Probably, but we do the best we can to allow as much of the openness and freedom as possible.

There are other reasons for protecting the term "Linux," and to do so, the law states that we have to "vigorously defend" the trademark. In legal terms, the easiest way of doing this is to license the term "Linux" out to people who wish to use it.

For a long time this process was "hit or miss." Linus did not want to be involved, and so he delegated the decision-making to me. I was often traveling, or missed the request in the large volumes of email I get, and so I (seemingly) was reluctant to answer. In addition, from time to time, there were issues that came up that required funding of legal activity, either inside the United States or outside of it. Even though Mr. Davis has been most generous with his time, there are still clerical fees to be paid, documents to be filed, and court costs that (unfortunately) have to be paid from time to time. These funds have run over $100,000 over the past five years, and have been paid for by Linux International. As a safety net for this type of funding, and to make the licensing process run smoother, Mr. Davis suggested we set up a non-profit association called The Linux Mark Institute, which charged a small amount of money to those people wishing to create a trademark utilizing the word "Linux." We felt that by making the amount reasonable, and by making the procedure fairly painless, we could both satisfy the Linux marketplace and create a "war chest" of money to help finance those few cases that actually go to more stringent legal battles.

We also hope to use some of this money to obtain the trademark of "Linux" in other countries, so we can protect the Linux trademark there, too.

As of now, the Web site works more or less "automatically." People who submit a request for a name are reviewed by a staff member of Mr. Davis' office. If there is any question about the name, or any issue or dissension, then the request is forwarded to me. If I have any questions, or any indecision on the name, I forward that along to Linus. But those kinds of issues have not occurred for over six months.

We structured the site to allow "fair use" of the word "Linux," so those people or LUGs trying to create a few T-shirts or mugs to hand out could do that without paying the licensing fee. But if someone was going to make a real trademark, and particularly one that was going to be used to keep other people from using that same trademark, then they have to license the name.

In this world there are laws, and there are people who would use those laws to their own selfish gain. The Linux Mark Institute is just another way of making sure that the Linux community is protected into the future from those people.

Jon "maddog" Hall is executive director of Linux International.