Trademarks

Haiku, Inc. owns the following (registered) trademarks: Haiku™ (3993198), the HAIKU logo® (3937621,5654531), the HAIKU Background Leaf™, and the HAIKU Leaf™. As an open source project, the name and brand that is associated with the Project is vital to the Project’s reputation and the sense of familiarity that end-users expect from the Software.

Anyone is able to freely use the code that comprises Haiku®, however the trademarks of Haiku cannot freely be used in the same liberal manner.

Goal of Trademark Policy

This policy is necessary to prevent use that is damaging to the NPO, the Project, and to the trademarks themselves. The damaging use ranges from unintentional mis-use to purposefully using the trademarks in a manner that confuses people. The unintentional mis-use is typically from enthusiastic people who have the best of intentions at heart, but overlook the implications of doing-as-they-please with the trademarks. The other extreme consists of people who wish to harness the popularity and reputation of Haiku to help further their own personal agendas. Ultimately, those damaging uses weaken the ability of the trademarks to represent the quality, brand, and reputation of Haiku as an open-source operating system. Those branding concepts are vitally important to the Project, as it establishes and maintains a level of confidence and sense of familiarity with end-users and other consumers of the Project.

The Trademark Policy

The Trademark Policy exists to protect the name, image, and brand that is HAIKU through regulation. While the wording in this policy may appear strict, it should be clearly expressed that Haiku, Inc. has a policy of granting permission with minimal effort on the requestor’s part, where it is visibly good for the Project and makes sense.

  • Unless explicitly stated, the usage requirements apply to all uses of the Marks.
  • Allowed usage details which cases do not require permission from Haiku, Inc.
  • For other uses, policy compliance does not by itself constitute permission.
  • Permission for those uses are to be granted on a case-by-case basis, with the goal of a quick decision with minimal fuss.
  • Permission of one usage case does not grant nor imply permission for other usage cases.
  • Haiku, Inc. can deny/revoke permission at its discretion.
  • Haiku, Inc. can grant permission at its own discretion, even in violation of its own policy.

To be clear, only the owners of the trademark have the capacity to grant permission. Community feedback is welcomed regarding this policy.

This policy is subject to change without notice.