Re: Minutes of the Board Meeting of October, 27th, 2015

[Cosimo Cecchi <cosimoc gnome org>]

Hi Sri,

Thanks for the great feedback and questions!

On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 11:07 AM, Sriram Ramkrishna <sri ramkrishna me> wrote:

 * Trademark renewals: see Pam's mail from October 16th re the old vs new logo image

I don't think that mail is public.  Can someone from the board give a summary?

It's in the best interest of the Foundation not to discuss legal strategy on public forums, so I'm afraid not.

However, see below.

 

  * Old logo was trademarked as a temporary measure until the newer logo became commonly used
  * It also serves as a proof of prior art and seriousness in maintaining the mark
  * Should we renew the old logo now?
  * ACTION: Allan to get back to Pam and check if there is an option to proceed with an unregistered trademark for the old GNOME foot that still protects the GNOME brand

Which logo are we talking about?  The foot with the texture?  Have we've seen instances where this trademark was being used?

What are the trade offs with not renewing the old logo vs renewing it?  You say that it is proof of prior art.  Does that contribute to the strength of the GNOME brand or the current brand logo?

Yes, it's the old logo [1]. I don't recall instances of it being used.

Renewing the old logo would cost money, but would not necessarily strengthen our brand, as we'd still be able to defend ourselves if someone used it to claim being GNOME.

  * Needs finishing and some feedback from the Board to improve and finally launch it
  * ACTION: Jeff and Cosimo to handle the first review of sysadmin sponsorship brochure and any eventual improvement to the sponsorship brochure itself

Would we be able to see this brochure?

This action item for me and Jeff hasn't been completed yet.

Once it is completed, it will be shared more widely.

How do you intend to spread the word of these trademark license agreements?

Who do you think should the word be spread to?

Also, can we start spreading out what kind of knickknacks?  I mean, the GNOME foot lends itself to some of the cutest baby clothes ever.  Given how many of us are starting families, it seems that  this is the right time to have these kind of things.

At the moment, the GNOME board is not actively seeking new trademark agreements, or suggesting product ideas.

Having said that, we of course would welcome more products like that. I suggest you follow up directly with some of the shops that have an agreement in place already (or are in the process of getting one formalized) if you have ideas about some cool products.

 

  * Sysadmin funds are however coming to an end after the Board assigned additional 5k USD from its budget back in January 2015 (https://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-announce/2015-January/msg00001.html)
  * The Sysadmin sponsorship brochure original draft by Jeff is under Board's evaluation with higher priority

What's the plan to keep this funded?

The sysadmin brochure mentioned above is meant as one way to address this.

[1] http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76369102&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch 

Cheers,

Cosimo