Open Stack

Thanks Alan.

I was also thinking it would be a good time to point out the various places where you can learn more about the current policies and marketing programs.

This page has many helpful links:  http://www.openstack.org/brand

The brand page outlines 5 specific marketing programs for commercial products, which are sometimes referred to as the "restricted use logo" programs, also pasted below.  Although the programs have logos associated with them, they also govern the ways in which companies can use the wordmark ("OpenStack") as they market their products, including the rules around the naming of their product or service.  Please note that these are summaries, not legal documents, so they are meant to convey the meaning of each program in laymans terms, but are not a substitute for a full review of the relevant legal agreements.  This is one of the challenges of discussing a complex legal topic over a mailing list, but I think it's still useful for us non-lawyers to start with the summaries:

From the website:
--
For Commercial Products:

"Powered By OpenStack"
If you have a service offering that uses formally released OpenStack Compute (Nova) code in your application or product, you may be eligible for the "Powered by OpenStack" marketing program, which includes a specific commercial-use logo and wordmark treatment for your product name. See the logo guidelines at the the above link, and contact logo at openstack.org for more details.  A signed contract is required.

"Storage Powered By OpenStack"
If you have a service offering that uses formally released OpenStack Object Storage (Swift) code in your application or product, you may be eligible for the "Storage Powered by OpenStack" marketing program, which includes a specific commercial-use logo and wordmark treatment for your product name. See the logo guidelines at the above link, and contact logo at openstack.org for more details.  A signed contract is required.

"Built For OpenStack"
If you are creating hardware, applications or services that integrate with or support OpenStack technology, but do not actually incorporate OpenStack technology, you may be eligible for the "Built for OpenStack" marketing program, which includes a specific commercial-use logo and wordmark treatment for your product name. See the logo guidelines at the above link, and contact logo at openstack.org for more details.  A signed contract is required.

"OpenStack Distribution"
This program is designed for Software Distributions based on OpenStack, which include, at a minimum, the Compute (Nova) and Object Storage (Swift) software from one of the two most recent versions at time of commercial launch, expose the OpenStack API, and are distributed as installable software (e.g. USB, download, etc).  Companies who are part of the program may use the OpenStack Distribution logo and may also use the OpenStack wordmark in their product name, such as "ACME OpenStack".  To determine if you qualify for the program, contact logo at openstack.org.  A signed contract is required.

"OpenStack Cloud"
This program is for public Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) clouds which utilize the OpenStack software (including, at a minimum, the Compute (Nova) and Object Storage (Swift) software), expose the OpenStack API, are running one of the two most recent versions.  Companies who are part of the program may use the OpenStack Cloud logo and may also use the OpenStack wordmark in their service name, such as "ACME OpenStack Cloud".  To determine if you qualify for the program, contact logo at openstack.org.  A signed contract is required.

--

The "Built for OpenStack" program is in some ways the broadest, as it is for products and services that work with OpenStack, as opposed to products or services that actually run or distribute the OpenStack code.  For example, professional services, including training,  fall under the "Built for OpenStack" marketing program.  Using "ACME" as an example company name, "ACME Training for OpenStack" is something you could see in the marketplace under this program.

The last two, "OpenStack Distribution" and "OpenStack Cloud" are relatively new.  They are the first programs that allow a company to use "OpenStack" in the product name without a modifer such as "Powered by" or "for", and thus have the most stringent requirements, including the requirement to include Nova & Swift from one of the two most recent releases, and to expose the OpenStack APIs.

Note that for all programs, a signed contract is required, which means that this "ACME" company would need to contact the Foundation (logo at openstack.org) and discuss their programs before such an agreement were executed.

So, that's the status right now. It sounds like several of you have ideas about how to evolve these programs, or have ideas for new programs, which is great, but obviously we need to carefully consider the impact of any changes to the market, users and companies who are currently using the restricted logos. Whether or not the Foundation will have a training/certification program, and how that will take shape, is a separate but important topic.

--
Personal Opinion:

I think we could better address the growing ecosystem of companies who are offering professional services for OpenStack, including Training and Certification.  As always, we need to balance the duty to protect the brand with the opportunity to leverage the combined reach of such a thriving ecosystem.  But I think it's clear that the current "Built for OpenStack" is not a perfect fit for service businesses. The name itself doesn't exactly say "professional services."

Many ideas have already been shared on the mailing list specific to Certification, and I think it will be a good topic for Monday's board meeting, in the context of Training and perhaps professional services as a whole.

Trademark issues are not simple, and thus won't be solved overnight, but in the grand scheme of things I am very happy that there is so much demand for OpenStack knowledge, and that we have the strongest open cloud ecoystem on the planet looking to meet it.  As a newly formed Foundation with the responsibiltiy to protect, empower, and promote OpenStack, I'm confident that if we make this a priority we can ensure any new program ultimately strikes the right balance. 

Mark Collier



On Thursday, October 11, 2012 6:15pm, "Alan Clark" <aclark at suse.com> said:

> 
> 
>>>> On 10/11/2012 at 04:03 PM, Tristan Goode <tristan at aptira.com> wrote:
>> Jim,
>>
>>> > > From: Jim Curry [mailto:jim.curry at rackspace.com]
>>> > ..
>>> > > Tristan,
>>> > >
>>> > > The email was an unfortunate mistake by our marketing team.  It does
>>> > > not represent the official branding or positioning of our offer.  We
>>> > > aren't perfect, and for any confusion that created I apologize.
>>> > >
>>
>> The limited viewing audience of the Foundation mailing list and the Board
>> mailing list doesn't let the actual recipients of the mail out know that this
>> was a mistake. Could I please request that all the original recipients of the
>> email be advised.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Tristan
> 
> 
> While there are many details that have come up during this current email thread, I
> feel that it is important to remind everyone that the OpenStack Foundation has a
> trademark policy[1]  and procedure[1].  The policy sets out the rules for proper
> use of the OpenStack marks in word and logo form. The procedure is in place to
> govern and enforce the rules for those marks. The objective of the policy is to
> ensure that the OpenStack marks remain reliable indicators of source and quality
> and that they are protected from inappropriate and unauthorized use.   The policy
> goes through great detail to demonstrate what is and isn't authorized and/or
> proper use of the marks.
> 
> The policy also spells out what a person should do if a person has questions or
> wishes to report misuse of the OpenStack marks. "If you wish to obtain our
> permission for any uses above or for any other use which is not specifically
> addressed in this Trademark Policy or you became aware of unauthorized use of the
> OpenStack Marks, please contact us by email at logo at openstack.org..."[1]
> 
> Please use this as the mechanism to report uses of the marks which you feel are in
> question. Through this mechanism the proper people will be informed up front and
> will then be able to judiciously investigate the questioned use and subsequent
> actions.  Using such mechanisms ensure the proper enforcement of our marks while
> allowing the community to productively focus on and/or evolve the standing
> trademark policy and procedures while avoiding community strife and ill will
> through an onslaught of opinions towards any one person(s) or companies.
> 
> regards,
> 
> AlanClark
> 
> [1] http://www.openstack.org/brand/openstack-trademark-policy/
> 
> 
> 
> 
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