Re: [gentoo-nfp] Gentoo Trademark License (name/logo usage)

[Rich Freeman]

On Sat, Dec 21, 2013 at 5:23 PM, Roy Bamford <neddyseagoon@g.o> wrote:
> That is not a statement on behalf of the Gentoo Foundation Inc. at all.
> Its my personal opinion as a non US citizen, not normally subject to
> the jurisdiction of the US courts.
> Its also an acknowledgement that the US courts can be and are ignored,
> even in Europe. e.g. enforcing software patents.
>
> I believe our IP is well protected in the USA, is protected in places
> the USA has treaties with but is not protected at all in regions where
> the USA has little or no influence. e.g. Cuba.  Cuba seems to be doing
> quite nicely ... they even have their own Gentoo based distro.

So, if Bill Gates stated, purely as a private citizen, that Microsoft
probably didn't have grounds to sue Google over some software patent,
do you think that this wouldn't be likely to be introduced as evidence
in a court all the same?  Would it influence a jury?

I guess the point is that we need to be careful here.  The Gentoo
trademarks and IP are the Gentoo Foundation's greatest asset.  As a
member of the Foundation's board you're legally required to do
everything in your power to preserve the value of those assets, unless
you're spending them to further the Foundation's mission.

I don't mean this as finger-pointing/etc.  Just having been in your
shoes I've wondered whether I could legally make comments to the
effect that some entity might have some legal right to the Gentoo name
beyond anything explicitly granted by the Foundation.  It could
potentially make me liable to any Foundation member for a lawsuit over
despoliation of assets.  That might be the case whether the statement
was true or not, simply because it could be used against the
Foundation, and I'm an officer of the Foundation required under US law
to protect its interests (as such I could be liable for both action or
failure to act).

That's why I think it is a good idea to try to establish some kind of
legal relationship with the e.V. one way or another.  It just seems
like a potential legal-issue-in-waiting down the road if for some
reason the two orgs ever do go separate ways, or for some 3rd party to
leverage against both organizations.

As far as legal counsel goes - I certainly agree that on such matters
their advice should be sought.  That's why I'm trying to caution
against speculation on a public mailing list that the Gentoo
Foundation's legal rights are limited in any way whatsoever.

Rich