Joomla! Discussion Forums

Hello,

I want to sell a commercial GPL extension and apply for the JED inclusion.

As i actually don't own a software company i just plan to register a domain
for my Joomla commercial scripts.

Question : can i call my domain name ***joomla.com or <whatever>joomla.com ?

Is the name joomla a trademark ? Do i need any permission from OSM ?
I see plenty of addons linked to sites including the joomla name but what about
commercial extensions ?


thanks,
MamboLives

Hello,

We at the Joomla Extensions Directory have a direct interest in maintaining the integrity of the Joomla brand. As such, we cannot allow violations of the Joomla trademark, logo, brand etc. to be placed in or linked from the Joomla Extensions Directory.

Extensions that use Joomla or a derivative of Joomla in the extension name or the domain name need to be licensed.

You can find more information about our policy about in the following blog: http://community.joomla.org/blogs/commu ... n-jed.html

We are happy to give you a such license on your website if you all the extensions on your site are licensed as GPL.

If you have already obtained a license, no further action is required. Otherwise, you need to complete the following forms:
http://opensourcematters.org/domain-nam ... quest.html

This sounds maybe a little circumstantial, but I think you agree that trademarks are very important.

Thank you Geoff,

That's exactly what i needed to know, as seeing so many joomlaxyz.com domains or companies linked to the addons it wasn't clear if this is good only for GPL non-commercial scripts or also for commercial ones.

p.s.
I aso see people using names such as "Jxxxxxx.com" where the "J" stands for Joomla.
Is it ok or you consider it a violation of your TOS for the JED ?

What about for instance registering a domain "J-tools.com" or similar ?
Would you accept it if for a submission on the JED or it must be rejected due to infringment of the JED T.O.S. ?

Hi,

It's okay for commercial GPL developers as well to use the word "Joomla!" or derivative of the word in their domains. The key thing is that the extensions are licensed under the terms of the GPL.

In the instance of Jsomething.com or J-something.com, you would still be requested to request approval from OSM.

If you plan on running a business and expanding the business in the future, it is recommended that you do not have in your domain name the word "Joomla!" or any derivative of it or for that matter, any other copyrighted word. This way, your business name is not tied down to one particular CMS and you will be more able to expand to other CMSs as well. Take for example, RocketTheme. They were originally a Joomla! template provider but have since recently expanded to phpBB and Wordpress themes as well. However, pretend that instead of being called RocketTheme, they were called JoomlaTemplateProvider. You can see how it would be harder for them to produce phpBB and Wordpress themes under that brand as well.

Thanks,

Now everything is more clear.
I'll avoid using the word joomla or J-something as domain name.


Thanks again,
MamboLives