[osol-discuss] Updated Trademark FAQ

[Sara Dornsife]

I have rewritten the TM FAQ for OpenSolaris.org (you can see the current one at  http://opensolaris.org/os/about/faq/trademark_faq/) with a lot of input from Sun legal and from Sun branding. If you can or are interested, please review and send me any comments or questions. NOTES: Trademark link at the bottom of the page should go straight to http://www.sun.com/policies/trademarks/, not to an intermediary page on opensolaris.org. Unless we choose to create our own that includes all aspects of the OpenSolaris brand and calls out specifically how it is different. I like this suggestion, let me know what you think. We have to state somewhere that OpenSolaris is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, but we don't have to say that, “our lawyer told us we had to say” line. My recommendation is that we not apologize for having a TM'd name, just try to figure out how best to get access and usage of it for the community. Is OpenSolaris a Sun trademark? Yes. OpenSolaris is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. You can find information regarding the proper usage of this and other Sun trademarks on the [trademark policies page](http://www.sun.com/policies/trademarks/). How can I use the OpenSolaris trademark? You can use the OpenSolaris trademark in accordance with Sun's [trademark policies](http://www.sun.com/policies/trademarks/), which means that you can not incorporate a Sun trademark into your own product or project name or use it graphically. But you can use it in text where appropriate if the statement is correct.. The fair use clause in trademark law allows you to call out that your product is created from the OpenSolaris source code if that statement is true. You can not use the OpenSolaris wordmark (the graphic treatment used on the trademark), but you can use the trademark (OpenSolaris) textually (just the words). For example, you can not call your product Sara's OpenSolaris, and you can not create a Sara's OpenSolaris logo using the OpenSolaris wordmark, but you can say that Sara's operating system is based on OpenSolaris as long as the “based on OpenSolaris” part is written in text and is not incorporated into the logo for Sara's operating system. Refer to Sun's trademark policies <link to http://www.sun.com/policies/trademarks/> for more details on how to use the trademark appropriately. What are the OpenSolaris fan buttons and banners? There are buttons and banners that have been created that use the OpenSolaris trademark. These are available at <link to http://www.opensolaris.org/os/about/buttons/> and can be used on websites or on blogs (or anywhere online) to show that you are a member of the OpenSolaris community. There is no registration required to use them, but there are Usage Guidelines and a lightweight license <link to http://www.opensolaris.org/os/about/buttons/#usage>. Can I modify the OpenSolaris Fan Buttons and Banners? No. You have to use the buttons as they are, but you can send comments or recommendations about them to the community marketing discussion list at opensolaris-mktg AT opensolaris DOT org. Can I use the OpenSolaris name for my derived work or distribution? No, you cannot use the OpenSolaris trademark in your product name for derivative works or distributions you create from the OpenSolaris source code. The fair use principle in trademark law, as discussed above, allows you to use the trademark textually where accurate, but not as part of the name.

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