GPars Logo Trademark Usage Policy

Version 1.0

Introduction

This document outlines the policy of the GPars project regarding the use of its trademarks. Any use of any GPars trademark must be in accordance with this policy.

"GPars" stands for Groovy Parallel Systems. The GPars logos (in several variants) are trademarks of the GPars project as well. The logos are not registered, but registration does not equal ownership of trademarks.

All trademarks, even those that apply to open source software, must be used according to certain legal requirements. If these requirements are not met, the trademark may be endangered or lost. One of these requirements is for the trademark owner (in this case, the GPars project) to maintain standards for using its trademarks, and to enforce acceptable use of the trademarks by taking action against parties that violate those standards.

Trademark law is mainly a way to protect the public, rather than the trademark holder. This means that uses of trademarks that confuse consumers — which in our case would include our developer and user community, or anyone else who might be likely to use the GPars library — are not permitted under law. As the owner of the trademark, we must be sure the mark is used properly, so the community is not confused. That is what we mean when we say that an unpoliced trademark may be endangered or lost. When the trademark no longer represents a certain level of quality to the community, or no longer indicates that we are the source of the products that bear the trademark, the trademark loses its value.

Underlying GPars trademark policy is a set of guidelines for what is — and is not — acceptable use of GPars trademarks, specifically the word mark "GPars", the GPars logos, and variations of those marks. This policy describes the uses generally approved by GPars for its trademarks. However, if you violate this policy, or otherwise take actions that may compromise the goodwill or trademarks of GPars, or expose GPars to liability, GPars may require you to cease all use of any GPars trademark, regardless of the uses allowed in this policy.

General Goals

In general, we want the word mark "GPars" and the GPars logos to be used with minimal restriction.

We do not want these trademarks to be used:

  • to refer to any other libraries

  • in a way that is misleading or may imply association of unrelated modules, tools, documentation, or other resources with the GPars project

  • in ways that confuse the community as to whether the GPars programming language is open source and free to use

Uses that Never Require Approval

All trademarks are subject to "nominative use rules" that allow use of the trademark to name the trademarked entity in a way that is minimal and does not imply a sponsorship relationship with the trademark holder.

As such, stating accurately that software uses the GPars library or that it depends on it, is always allowed. In those cases, you may use the word "GPars" or the unaltered logos to indicate this, without our prior approval. This is true both for non-commercial and commercial uses.

This clause overrides other clauses of this policy. However, if you have any doubts about your intended use of the trademarks, please contact the GPars team.

How to Use the Trademarks

The GPars logos are not currently registered. (We will post an update to this policy if they are registered later.) These logos should be used in the form provided by the GPars, and should be accompanied by a symbol for unregistered trademarks: "™" or a small TM "™". This may not be removed or obscured and must always be included with the logo.

Unaltered Logos

  • Use of unaltered GPars-provided logos on T-shirts, mugs, etc. — Again, non-commercial uses to promote the GPars library are allowed. Commercial uses (which includes any use where you sell these items for money) require permission from the GPars project. Please reproduce our logos with the right colors and fonts; if you need help, let us know.

  • Use of unaltered GPars-provided logos on websites, brochures, and product packaging — Non-commercial uses to promote the GPars library are allowed, as are all nominative uses as described in the section Uses that Never Require Approval. Any other commercial uses require prior written permission from PSF.

Derived Logos

  • Derived logos must always be sufficiently different from the GPars logos to allow the community to tell the difference. Logos that simply change the colors or fonts are not allowed.

  • Use of derived logos for user groups and conferences — Allowed if used to refer to the GPars library.

License for this Policy

Interested parties may adapt this policy document freely under the Creative Commons CC0 license.