Trademark Policy

Introduction

This is the TREK project's policy for the use of our trademarks. While TREK is available under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0), that license does not include a license to use our trademarks.

This policy describes how you may use our trademarks. Our goal is to strike a balance between: 1) our need to ensure that our trademarks remain reliable indicators of the software we release; and 2) our community members' desire to be full participants in the TREK project.

Our trademarks

This policy covers the name "TREK" as well as any associated logos, trade dress, goodwill, or designs (our "Marks").

In general

Whenever you use our Marks, you must always do so in a way that does not mislead anyone about exactly who is the source of the software. For example, you cannot say you are distributing TREK when you're distributing a modified version of it, because people would think they would be getting the same software that they can get directly from us when they aren't. You also cannot use our Marks on your website in a way that suggests that your website is an official TREK website or that we endorse your website. But, if true, you can say you like TREK, that you participate in the TREK community, that you are providing an unmodified version of TREK, or that you wrote a guide describing how to use TREK.

This fundamental requirement, that it is always clear to people what they are getting and from whom, is reflected throughout this policy. It should also serve as your guide if you are not sure about how you are using the Marks.

In addition:

You may not use or register, in whole or in part, the Marks as part of your own trademark, service mark, domain name, company name, trade name, product name or service name.
Trademark law does not allow your use of names or trademarks that are too similar to ours. You therefore may not use an obvious variation of any of our Marks or any phonetic equivalent, foreign language equivalent, takeoff, or abbreviation for a similar or compatible product or service.
You agree that you will not acquire any rights in the Marks and that any goodwill generated by your use of the Marks and participation in our community inures solely to our benefit.

Distribution of unmodified source code or unmodified executable code we have compiled

When you redistribute an unmodified copy of TREK, you are not changing the quality or nature of it. Therefore, you may retain the Marks we have placed on the software to identify your redistribution. This kind of use only applies if you are redistributing an official TREK distribution that has not been changed in any way.

Distribution of executable code that you have compiled, or modified code

You may use the word mark "TREK", but not any TREK logos, to truthfully describe the origin of the software that you are providing, that is, that the code you are distributing is a modification of TREK. You may say, for example, that "this software is derived from the source code for TREK."

Of course, you can place your own trademarks or logos on versions of the software to which you have made substantive modifications, because by modifying the software, you have become the origin of that exact version. In that case, you should not use our Marks.

However, you may use our Marks for the distribution of code (source or executable) on the condition that any executable is built from an official TREK source code release and that any modifications are limited to switching on or off features already included in the software, translations into other languages, and incorporating minor bug-fix patches. Use of our Marks on any further modification is not permitted.

Mobile wrappers, hosted instances, and forks

The following clarifications apply specifically to common ways TREK is redistributed:

Self-hosted instances of unmodified TREK. You may refer to your instance as "a TREK instance" or "running TREK." You may not name the service itself in a way that suggests it is the official TREK ("TREK Cloud," "TREK Official," etc.).
Mobile wrappers (WebView shells, Capacitor apps, native apps) pointing at TREK. You may describe your app as "a mobile client for TREK" or "for use with TREK." You may not publish it on app stores under the name "TREK" or a confusingly similar name, and you may not use the TREK logo as the app icon unless your wrapper distributes only an unmodified, official TREK instance and you have obtained permission.
Forks of the TREK source code. Forks that diverge from upstream must use a different name. You may state that your fork is "based on TREK" or "a fork of TREK," but the project name itself must be your own.

Statements about your software's relation to TREK

You may use the word mark, but not TREK logos, to truthfully describe the relationship between your software and ours. The word mark "TREK" should be used after a verb or preposition that describes the relationship between your software and ours. So you may say, for example, "Bob's app for TREK" but may not say "Bob's TREK app." Some other examples that may work for you are:

[Your software] uses TREK
[Your software] is powered by TREK
[Your software] runs on TREK
[Your software] for use with TREK
[Your software] for TREK

Questions and permission requests

If you are not sure whether your intended use of the Marks is permitted under this policy, or if you would like to request explicit permission for a use that is not covered, please open an issue on the TREK GitHub repository or contact the maintainers directly.

These guidelines are based on the Model Trademark Guidelines, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

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