91探花

Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic (the parent company of WordPress), has made headlines recently as he鈥檚 expressed his dislike of WP Engine. And that鈥檚 putting it mildly.

In a blog post written mid-September, Mullenweg called WP Engine a 鈥渃ancer to WordPress鈥�, criticising the platform and company for not being committed to protecting user data in order to save money. Furthermore, he鈥檚 asserted that the name, 鈥淲P Engine鈥�, is intentionally misleading to customers and users, implying that it鈥檚 part of WordPress itself, which it isn鈥檛.

WP Engine has clapped back, serving both Mullenweg and Automattic with a cease-and-desist letter, formally requesting that the previously made comments be withdrawn.

The crux of the issue, it seems, is the company鈥檚 name and Automattic鈥檚 claim that it supposedly breaches WordPress and WooCommerce trademark usage rules. WP Engine continues to deny any trademark transgressions; however, this has led to further back-and-forth between the two parties.

听

The Trademark Dispute

听

The point of contention here is the name, 鈥淲P Engine鈥�, and WordPress鈥檚 accusation that the company has intentionally misled users and violated trademark rules and agreements. Of course, WP Engine disagrees, which has led to a lengthy argument over who鈥檚 right and who鈥檚 wrong.

Let鈥檚 break it down:

听

• Mullenweg wrote a blog article criticising WP Engine for its supposed 鈥渂reach鈥� of trademark agreements. He claimed that the company is knowingly sacrificing user privacy and security to cut costs.

听

• WP Engine responded with a cease-and-desist letter, denying Mullenweg and Automattic鈥檚 claims.

听

• Automattic served WP Engine with a cease-and-desist letter, accusing them of breaching trademark usage rules with regard to WordPress and WooCommerce.

听

• Mullenweg made an 鈥渋nformal鈥� statement saying that he intends to use a 鈥渟corched earth鈥� approach unless WP Engine agrees to 鈥渁 significant percentage of its revenues for a license to the WordPress trademark.鈥�

听

• WordPress changed its policy page details, including a statement acknowledging that 鈥淲P鈥� isn鈥檛 technically part of their trademark, but that it鈥檚 irresponsible to use it in an attempt to mislead users 鈥� a clear reference to their ongoing disagreement with WP Engine.

听

• Mullenweg banned WP Engine from accessing WordPress.org resources, resulting in a lot of broken websites and more.

听

• WP Engine responded by saying that the action taken by Mullenweg had a negative effect on WP Engine, its customers and also听all听WordPress plugin developers and open-source users.

听

• WordPress temporarily lifted the ban from the 27th of September until the 1st of October, supposedly allowing those affected to prepare a little bit for the future, but it鈥檚 set to be re-imposed from the 1st.

听

Despite everything he鈥檚 done and the ramifications his actions have had for both WP Engine and WordPress clients too, Mullenweg maintains his position 鈥� that the argument is about the trademark issue.

听

听

However, due to the far-reaching consequences of Mullenweg and Automattic鈥檚 actions 鈥� namely, the banning of WP Engine from accessing WordPress.org resources 鈥� many people in the industry have expressed concern regarding WordPress itself and their future in using the platform鈥檚 services.

听

What鈥檚 Next in the Feud?

听

So, what now? Mullenweg has clearly been incredibly outspoken about his feelings regarding WP Engine and his grievances regarding the trademarking issues 鈥� both in his personal capacity and from the perspective of Automattic.

The question is, who鈥檚 right? And more importantly, what will the ramifications be of Mullenweg鈥檚 accusations and his actions?

Already, both industry experts and WordPress and WP Engine have expressed major concerns. For those who were affected by the ban imposed on the 27th of September, and just other users of WP Engine and WordPress, this move from Mullenweg鈥檚 side raised both immediate and future concerns in terms of WordPress鈥檚 reliability.

Of course, everybody is now concerned that something like this could happen again and have detrimental ramifications for them, their websites and their companies.

The other point of concern comes from other members of WordPress community who have started requesting formal clarification over how the term 鈥淲ordPress鈥� can be used in their listed services. They鈥檙e worried that they鈥檒l be called out in the same way that WP Engine has, facing similar retribution.

However, they all assert 鈥� alongside WP Engine 鈥� that the use of the term 鈥淲ordPress鈥� isn鈥檛 supposed to indicate endorsement by the WordPress foundation or WooCommerce. Rather, the term is used for identification purposes.

Overall, there seems to be a fair amount of concern and scepticism regarding WordPress鈥檚 harsh actions. But,听Mullenweg seems persistent in his venture to obtain financial compensation from WP Engine for the supposed trademarking issues.

Until there鈥檚 some legal resolution in the matter, we鈥檒l be waiting with bated breath to see who comes out on top.