[dpl-helpers] Fwd: Trademark Use Request

[Martin Michlmayr]

Hi Brian,

As they are willing to transfer the domain, I believe the steps are to:

 - Get in touch with the SPI hostmaster and then ask debian.rs to
initiate the transfer

 - If there are any costs involved in the transfer, the DPL should
approve them.

Martin


* Brian Gupta <brian.gupta at brandorr.com> [2013-06-25 08:46]:
> The holders of debian.rs (Serbia) sent a "use request" to the Debian
> Trademark front desk. We have a policy to not approve debian.*
> domains, and generally require them to be held by TOs.
> 
> After writing to indicate as such, they indicated a tentative
> willingness to transfer the domain to a Debian TO. (Seems SPI is the
> one they are interested in.)
> 
> What would be the next steps?
> 
> Thanks,
> Brian
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Chex <chex at debian.rs>
> Date: Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 5:43 AM
> Subject: Re: Trademark Use Request
> To: Brian Gupta <brian.gupta at brandorr.com>
> Cc: trademark at debian.org
> 
> 
> On 06/08/2013 01:26 PM, Brian Gupta wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 8:00 AM, chex<chex at debian.rs>  wrote:
> >>
> >> Name:    Nikola Orlov
> >>
> >> Project: debian.rs
> >>
> >> Purpose: non-commercial
> >>
> >> Nature of Use: domain name (and website)
> >>
> >> ----------------------------------------
> >>
> >>
> >> Hello,
> >>
> >> The domain (debian.rs) is recently registered and used for a website whose
> >> purpose will be to provide technical help with using Debian in various
> >> (server and desktop) environments, in Serbian and possibly English language.
> >> The site will be presented in article form and it's articles' content will
> >> be "licensed" under the copyheart license or lack thereof.
> >> If the interest and, thus, the technical resource requirements for the site
> >> grow enough, donation and/or advertising functionality might be added to
> >> support the hosting costs. This will happen only in the event that adequate
> >> sponsorship from a local organisation or business doesn't happen.
> >>
> >> Note that the website explicitly states that it is not an official
> >> representation of, or officially endorsed by the Debian project. The
> >> disclaimer of this non-affiliation and the trademark ownership will be
> >> included on every page in the final website design.
> >>
> >>
> >> Best regards,
> >> Nikola Orlov
> >>
> > Hi Nikola,
> >
> > Thank you for your efforts to promote Debian in Serbia.
> >
> > At this time we have a policy for having top level Debian domains have
> > ownership assigned to Debian Trusted Organizations, such as SPI or
> > FFIS, as experience tells us that individuals might lose interest in
> > the long run (e.g. years from now). If/when that happens, having an
> > independent organization trusted by Debian as domain owner would make
> > things much simpler for us.
> >
> > In addition, having Debian.* domains registered and held by third party
> > entities damages our rights to protect the trademark, and we have been
> > advised by our attorney, to not allow these uses.
> >
> > Your request for use of the Debian trademark has been recorded. We
> > regret to inform you that such usage as requested by you cannot be
> > permitted as it will lead to confusion in the minds of consumers and
> > dilution of our trademark.
> >
> > At this point we ask that you consider working with one of our existing
> > Trusted Organizations. [1]
> >
> > That said, we are excited to hear that you are working to build a
> > local Debian organization, and invite you to use the Debian wiki to
> > coordinate your efforts, such as a number of teams have done, like
> > DebianIndia. [2] In addition, you can add your group to the
> > comprehensive list [3].
> >
> > Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.
> >
> > -Debian Trademark Team
> >
> > [1] -http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Auditor/Organizations
> > [2] -http://wiki.debian.org/DebianIndia
> > [3] -http://wiki.debian.org/LocalGroups
> 
> 
> Dear Brian,
> 
> Thanks for the reply.
> First, I apologize for the late answer, I was away and had very
> limited connectivity.
> 
> I will be glad to work with one of your TOs, and in the case of this
> domain name, I am speculating it means I should make a domain transfer
> to them. This is definitely the best option in my opinion since it
> also solves other unrelated issues like the question of "the right to
> own this domain" within the local community.
> I have a few questions though:
> Is the domain transfer something the Debian project is even interested
> in, or have I misinterpreted your email?
> If it is, who should I talk to concerning the administrative part of
> the transfer?
> I see that SPI is offering this service as "Holding Intangible Assets"
> (http://www.spi-inc.org/projects/services), but it offers it to the
> "Associated project" itself, which means that the transfer should
> first be in name of the Debian project and then it can be transfered
> to SPI unless some letter of approval is sent so that I could directly
> contact SPI.
> 
> Regards,
> Nikola Orlov

-- 
Martin Michlmayr
http://www.cyrius.com/