Liferay Trademark Policy

Background Statement

The Liferay trademark was developed for the Liferay Community to foster the use of Liferay products and services as well as to protect the quality and mindshare associated with Liferay by individuals who are a part of the community. The trademark is controlled by Liferay, Inc., who additionally owns this policy and can grant a license for any use that meets the restricted rights described below.

The general intention of this policy is:

To ensure the continued growth and use of Liferay-based or ancillary products.
To avoid confusion on the part of the community and the general public regarding the official connection between Liferay, Inc. or the official community and any product, service, meeting, or other use of the term "Liferay."
To maintain the value and reputation of the Liferay brand and trademark.
To protect the community from improper or unauthorized use.

Uses that meet those described in the "Permitted Use of Trademark" section below are automatically covered by a permitted use license. Those that do not, or which are explicitly described in the "Restricted Use Requiring a License for Use" section, may request a license to use from Liferay, Inc. Scenarios not covered in the descriptions below or those that are unclear should be directed to [email protected]. Please contact us if you are aware of a violation committed by yourself or others.

Current Trademarks

Liferay has trademarked images and logos associated with Liferay (the company and product), which are controlled by Liferay, Inc. All usage of the Liferay logo must comply with terms determined and described by Liferay, Inc., and/or through explicit approval by Liferay, Inc., regardless of the location of use.

The following sections describe some conditions for permitted use that do not require Liferay, Inc. to provide approval as well as restricted use conditions that require you to request permission from Liferay, Inc. by emailing [email protected].

Permitted Use of Trademark

Liferay trademarks can be used only when the origin or endorsement of a project meets the requirements stated below. Individuals must clearly understand that any use of the trademark "Liferay" means an official association has been established with the Liferay community. This helps the Liferay community to build a reputation that will be devoid of damage caused by potential confusion regarding what is and is not officially Liferay.

The following uses of the trademark are allowed under this policy. If a project is no longer an open source project, or otherwise becomes a commercial project, this policy will be no longer be in effect and no use of the trademark will be allowed without explicit approval from Liferay, Inc.

1. Community Advocacy
a. The use of trademarks is permissible if there is no commercial intent but rather an intention to enable community growth towards awareness and adoption of Liferay, as well as to increase contributions back to the community.
2. Derived Work
a. As an open source application, Liferay allows individuals to expand its capabilities and features for specific implementations. While we encourage the adaptation and derivation of Liferay, the use of Liferay trademarks must only be used to increase community advocacy and cannot violate any conditions below.
3. Building on or for Liferay
a. Applications built to work with or run on Liferay may use Liferay trademarks to describe the application's use or intent and can be contained in the product name as long as the name does not imply official certification or validation from Liferay, Inc. For example, names such as "Exchange Connector for Liferay" or "Integration Connector Kit for Liferay" would be allowed, while "Liferay Mail Portlet," "Liferay Management Console," or "Liferay UI Kit" would not be permissible without explicit approval.
4. Commentary and Parody
a. Use of the Liferay trademark in any discussion, commentary, criticism, or parody in a manner that does not imply endorsement is allowed. Individuals can write articles, create web content, blog or talk about Liferay as long as it is clear to readers that they are simply referring to Liferay and are not speaking on behalf of Liferay, Inc. We reserve the right to review all usage within the open source community and to object to any usage that appears to overstep the bounds of discussion and good-faith non-commercial development.
5. Content Description
a. Liferay trademarks can be used in the title of a book, newsletter, video, magazine, etc. as long as it does not suggest an official link with Liferay, Inc.

Restricted Use Requiring a License for Use

Additionally, the following examples of Liferay trademark use may require permission from Liferay, Inc. This list of conditions is a comprehensive but not absolute list concerning those aspects that may require permission from Liferay, Inc.

Reputation Impact

Any use that suggests an official link with Liferay, Inc., Liferay Certified Partners, or the Liferay community.
When used in a product or service to imply that the application is certified by or for Liferay, or is officially or formally associated with Liferay products, services and partners.
When used in any manner that could imply the official endorsement of Liferay or that which can confusingly capitalize on the brand or goodwill of any product or service associated with Liferay, Inc.
When used in a domain name or URL.
When used in any form to disparage Liferay, its products, or its partners in a manner that is not clearly a third-party parody.

Commercial Use

When used for any commercial intent including websites, projects, solutions, or classes.
When used on or in relation to a software product that includes or is built on top of a product supplied by Liferay while involving any commercial intent associated with that product.
Services associated with any of the aforementioned items. When used in a commercial company name, organization, or association.
When used in combination with any other marks, logos, or another registered trademark.
When used as part of the naming or branding of any hardware or software product that constitutes a substantially modified version of a Liferay product.
When used in combination with words like "conference", "convention", "symposium", and "association" as well as any translation or derivation thereof where attendance requires a paid fee and/or whose primary goal is to advertise commercial products or services. (Note: Liferay User Group, Meetups, and such that do not require attendance fees are not restricted.)
When used in a title, meta-tag, or other Search Engine Optimization method whose sole intention is to influence search rankings or the results list.
When used in any term, logo, or character for any trademark or logo owned by Liferay, Inc. for any merchandising purpose (e.g., t-shirts, office toys, marketing giveaways.)

Licensing Procedure

To obtain a grant for Liferay trademark use, you must complete a request form with your contact details and a description of the intended use. Contact [email protected] and request the Trademark License Grant Procedure form.

Application processing time will vary depending on demand and other conditions. Applications may be rejected for any reason; however, multiple applications can be submitted even after a previous rejection. Trademark license holders may be required to pay a license fee or other obligations imposed, notably for any commercial use of the Liferay trademark.

The following conditions and procedures will be leveraged during a review:

1. Products and Services will be evaluated to determine if they:

suggest an official link
promote or expand Liferay adoption and usage
fork Liferay's technology and products, or promote and encourage forks of Liferay's technology
are licensed in a way that is compatible with the Liferay open source license
substantially strengthens and empowers the Liferay community
are of high-quality in both form and function
are created by significant contributors to the Liferay project
are created by those with a track record of liberally "giving back" to their communities
in the case of a domain name, do not create an unfair monopoly towards others because they span a relevant category of service.

2. With respect to the name of a company, organization or association, it is considered whether:

the name does not suggest an official link
the company/organization or association is founded by significant contributors to the Liferay project who have a track record of liberally "giving back" to their communities.

Use Guidelines

Any use of a Liferay trademark implies acceptance of the policy conditions described above. When used, the trademark should meet design guidelines of color and shape as described in the style guide described below.

Liferay, Inc. has developed several resources that can be leveraged when using Liferay trademarks. All use should fit within the following categories:

The following conditions and procedures will be leveraged during a review:

1.  Trademark used within a commentary or parody or when used within a project, product, web, documentary
a.  Trademarks must not be used in any illegal or defamatory context, or in any manner that can negatively impact the public impression of the Liferay community.

2.  Trademark logo used as part of an official Liferay logo category
a.  Liferay Official Partner
i.  Usage of Liferay Certified Partner Logos may only be used by those who are Liferay Certified Partners as specified in the signed partner agreement, or by those who have gotten permission for usage.
b.  Liferay Community Group Logo
i.  Liferay Community Group Logos are for use on the Community page of Liferay.com. Permission is required for use elsewhere.

3. Liferay corporate logo
a. Please request a copy of [email protected] for approved usage guidelines.

4. Alterations of official logo
a.  Liferay Logos are developed with specific colors and styles that cannot be changed unless approved by the Liferay Design Style Guide Manager. Please contact [email protected] for more information.