Automattic has officially donated the WordPress trademark to the non-profit WordPress Foundation. To quote the official announcement by Jane Wells, “the Foundation will be responsible for safeguarding the trademarked name and logo from misuse toward the end of protecting WordPress and preventing confusion among people trying to figure out if a resource is ‘official’ or not.” Matt Mullenweg is obviously excited, as “the most central piece of WordPress’s identity, its name, is now fully independent from any company.” Ownership of the trademark could have made Automattic millions on the name alone, but in a move praised as “extremely generous and community-minded,” they are ensuring that both WordPress and its name will never be used to unfairly profit from, confuse, or cause harm to the blogging platform, its integrity, and the community itself.
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