The Python programming language has been around for more than two decades, but today it is fighting for its name in Europe. The Python Software Foundation's chairman yesterday said the Python trademark is "at risk in Europe" because a cloud server and storage company that also uses the name Python is trying to get ownership of the mark.
In a blog post, Foundation Chairman Van Lindberg (who is also an IP and open source lawyer) asked community members for help, both financially and by supplying material that might help the Foundation bolster its claim to the trademark.
The Python Software Foundation has had a US trademark registered since 2004, but in the European Union the foundation's trademark application was only filed this month, on February 6. The application seeks a trademark over "computer programs that implement an object-oriented computer programming language," and is listed by the patent office as "under examination."
Meanwhile, the Python trademark is also being sought by the aforementioned cloud-hosting company. Although it uses the name Python for its services, the UK-based company is called POBox Hosting. The application was filed in April 2012 and is listed as being "opposed."
Lindberg told Ars that the Python Software Foundation did not file for a trademark in Europe until this year because of financial constraints. The foundation lacked any significant legal counsel for many years, until Lindberg came on board in 2008. The subsequent economic downturn "wiped out our budget for trademark registrations," and it took several years to build the reserves back up.
Trademark rights can be established even without an application, however, because rights to a trademark can arise from use rather than from registration.
"We were aware of the possibility for trouble, but 1) most people don't want to pick on an open source organization, and 2) we were aware that we had built up what are called 'common law' trademark rights through the use of the term 'Python,'" Lindberg told Ars. "It is these common law rights that we are using to oppose POBox's application."
Python is one of the most popular programming languages, used by the likes of Google, Yahoo, and NASA. While Python is used by many experienced programmers, it's also often chosen as a language for beginners. It's a standard component of numerous operating systems: A Python development environment comes preinstalled on Raspbian, the recommended operating system of the Raspberry Pi, and Python can be used from the terminal in Apple's OS X. Named after Monty Python, the language is often used to build Web applications and was used to create the Eucalyptus and OpenStack cloud computing platforms. It's also popular in scientific computing and professional animation.
A single word or phrase can be trademarked multiple times by different entities in different contexts—in fact, there are numerous Python trademarks in both the US and Europe. Lindberg wrote that the POBox trademark application is troubling to the Python Software Foundation because it would be applied to computer technology in general.
Technically, POBox is trying to trademark an image, its logo with the word "Python," rather than the word itself. Despite this distinction, the Python Software Foundation believes the trademark would create confusion.
The foundation's logo includes a representation of a snake and the word "Python":
Lindberg's post explains the foundation's position:
There is a company in the UK that is trying to trademark the use of the term "Python" for all software, services, servers... pretty much anything having to do with a computer. Specifically, it is the company that got a hold on the python.co.uk domain 13 years ago. At that time we weren't looking a lot at trademark issues, and so we didn't get that domain.
This hasn't been an issue since then because the python.co.uk domain has, for most of its life, just forwarded its traffic on to the parent companies, veber.co.uk and pobox.co.uk. Unfortunately, Veber has decided that they want to start using the name "Python" for their server products.
We contacted the owners of python.co.uk repeatedly and tried to discuss the matter with them. They blew us off and responded by filing the community trademark application claiming the exclusive right to use "Python" for software, servers, and web services - everywhere in Europe.
We got legal counsel in the UK and we (the PSF) are opposing the community trademark application, but our own trademark application hasn't yet matured. Accordingly, we are going with the trademark rights we have developed through using "Python" consistently over the past 20 years.
According to our London counsel, some of the best pieces of evidence we can submit to the European trademark office are official letters from well-known companies "using PYTHON branded software in various member states of the EU" so that we can "obtain independent witness statements from them attesting to the trade origin significance of the PYTHON mark in connection with the software and related goods/services." We also need evidence of use throughout the EU.
Thus, Lindberg asked community members to submit "a brief description of how Python is used at your company, how your company looks for and recognizes 'Python' as only coming from the PSF, and your view that another company using term Python to refer to services, software, and servers would be confusing."
Secondly, Lindberg asked for copies, pictures, and scans of anything published in the EU using the word "Python" to refer to the programming language, including books, pamphlets, conference programs, job listings, etc. Such materials can be e-mailed to psf-trademarks@python.org (but read Lindberg's blog post for instructions first). Finally, Lindberg asked for financial donations. "Since the costs of a trademark opposition are in the range of tens of thousands of dollars, we will need to find a way to refinance the legal costs of the opposition," he wrote.
As noted earlier, POBox Hosting is asking for a "figure" trademark rather than a "word' mark. The Python Software Foundation is seeking a word mark in Europe.
"That means that they are trying to trademark a picture of the word 'Python' in gray with green accents, not the word 'Python,'" Lindberg told Ars. "Unfortunately, the figure still gives us problems (see the gray 'Python' in our official logo) and it would be blocking for our own application for the word mark."
We've asked POBox Hosting for a response to the Python Software Foundation's complaint and will provide an update if we receive one.
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