Re: Minutes of the Board Meeting of October, 27th, 2015

[Jeff F. T.]

Le lundi 2 novembre 2015 à 16:53 -0800, Cosimo Cecchi a écrit :

> > > * ACTION: Jeff and Cosimo to handle the first review of sysadmin
> > > sponsorship brochure and any eventual improvement to the
> > > sponsorship brochure itself

> > Would we be able to see this brochure?
> > 
> This action item for me and Jeff hasn't been completed yet.
> Once it is completed, it will be shared more widely.

FWIW, my draft brought a few high-level questions to my mind,
which I posted there, hoping others will weigh in
so I can refine the draft a bit before posting it:
mail.gnome.org/archives/engagement-list/2015-November/msg00014.html
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Re: Minutes of the Board Meeting of October, 27th, 2015

[Allan Day]

Hi Michael!

Michael Catanzaro  wrote:
...
>> This is awesome!  So does this make the second trademark license
>> agreement
>> that we had?  Allan and I were working with someone else, is it it
>> the same
>> person or is this a different one?
>
> Isn't 10% of profit extremely low...?

I negotiated this one. The rate seemed fairly good to me, based on
other agreements I've seen. Also I'm not really sure it's in the
Foundation's interests to try and milk firms that are selling GNOME
merchandise. After all, they're being good supporters of the project
by selling this stuff in the first place. Also, whatever rate we
negotiate, the amount the Foundation gets back is likely to be fairly
trivial.

Allan
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Re: Minutes of the Board Meeting of October, 27th, 2015

[Allan Day]

Hey Sri,

I'll just respond to the trademark and merchandise questions here,
since that's what I'm most familiar with.

Sriram Ramkrishna  wrote:
...
>>  * ilovewhatido.eu trademark license agreement
>>   * It will last for two years
>>   * 10% of net receipts (profits) will be donated to the foundation
>>   * We should be sent a royalty report every 6 month by email
>>   * VOTE: Approve a trademark license agreement for ilovewhatido.eu
>>* VOTE: +1 Allan, Kat, Jeff, Cosimo
>> * VOTE PASSED
>>* Contract wording should be reviewed as it could be improved
>>
>
> This is awesome!  So does this make the second trademark license agreement
> that we had?  Allan and I were working with someone else, is it it the same
> person or is this a different one?

This is the second new trademark agreement that we have in progress.
Both are in the final stages of being finalised.

> How do you intend to spread the word of these trademark license agreements?

I'll definitely let the Engagement Team know when each new agreement
is completed, and had planned on spreading the word on social media.
Also, once we have these new agreements signed, I was wondering about
whether we should have a page on gnome.org, with links to the various
stores.

> Also, can we start spreading out what kind of knickknacks?  I mean, the
> GNOME foot lends itself to some of the cutest baby clothes ever.  Given how
> many of us are starting families, it seems that  this is the right time to
> have these kind of things.

Maybe talk to Andreas about doing that via our Zazzle store? It
shouldn't be too hard.

Allan
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Re: Minutes of the Board Meeting of October, 27th, 2015

[Dave Neary]

Hi,

On 11/02/2015 03:59 PM, Michael Catanzaro wrote:
>> This is awesome!  So does this make the second trademark license
>> agreement
>> that we had?  Allan and I were working with someone else, is it it
>> the same
>> person or is this a different one?
> 
> Isn't 10% of profit extremely low...?

10% for doing nothing is not bad.

A percentage of profit is harder to measure than a percentage of
revenues, but it's harder to get someone to agree to the latter (because
discounts, variable costs, etc can eat into margins).

I think 10% of (fairly audited) profits is pretty good.

Thanks,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary - Boston, MA
@nearyd / http://blogs.gnome.org/bolsh
Ph: +1-978-486-0168 / Cell: +1-978-799-3338
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Re: Minutes of the Board Meeting of October, 27th, 2015

[Cosimo Cecchi]

Hi Sri,

Thanks for the great feedback and questions!

On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 11:07 AM, Sriram Ramkrishna 
wrote:
>
>  * Trademark renewals: see Pam's mail from October 16th re the old vs new
>> logo image
>>
>
> I don't think that mail is public.  Can someone from the board give a
> summary?
>

It's in the best interest of the Foundation not to discuss legal strategy
on public forums, so I'm afraid not.
However, see below.


>   * Old logo was trademarked as a temporary measure until the newer logo
>> became commonly used
>>   * It also serves as a proof of prior art and seriousness in maintaining
>> the mark
>>   * Should we renew the old logo now?
>>   * ACTION: Allan to get back to Pam and check if there is an option to
>> proceed with an unregistered trademark for the old GNOME foot that still
>> protects the GNOME brand
>>
>>
> Which logo are we talking about?  The foot with the texture?  Have we've
> seen instances where this trademark was being used?
>
> What are the trade offs with not renewing the old logo vs renewing it?
> You say that it is proof of prior art.  Does that contribute to the
> strength of the GNOME brand or the current brand logo?
>

Yes, it's the old logo [1]. I don't recall instances of it being used.
Renewing the old logo would cost money, but would not necessarily
strengthen our brand, as we'd still be able to defend ourselves if someone
used it to claim being GNOME.

  * Needs finishing and some feedback from the Board to improve and finally
>> launch it
>>   * ACTION: Jeff and Cosimo to handle the first review of sysadmin
>> sponsorship brochure and any eventual improvement to the sponsorship
>> brochure itself
>>
>
> Would we be able to see this brochure?
>

This action item for me and Jeff hasn't been completed yet.
Once it is completed, it will be shared more widely.

How do you intend to spread the word of these trademark license agreements?
>

Who do you think should the word be spread to?

Also, can we start spreading out what kind of knickknacks?  I mean, the
> GNOME foot lends itself to some of the cutest baby clothes ever.  Given how
> many of us are starting families, it seems that  this is the right time to
> have these kind of things.
>

At the moment, the GNOME board is not actively seeking new trademark
agreements, or suggesting product ideas.
Having said that, we of course would welcome more products like that. I
suggest you follow up directly with some of the shops that have an
agreement in place already (or are in the process of getting one
formalized) if you have ideas about some cool products.


>   * Sysadmin funds are however coming to an end after the Board assigned
>> additional 5k USD from its budget back in January 2015 (
>> https://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-announce/2015-January/msg1.html
>> )
>>   * The Sysadmin sponsorship brochure original draft by Jeff is under
>> Board's evaluation with higher priority
>>
>
> What's the plan to keep this funded?
>

The sysadmin brochure mentioned above is meant as one way to address this.

[1]
http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76369102=SERIAL_NO=statusSearch


Cheers,
Cosimo
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