- Unprotected.org successfully petitions USPTO against the demand of WordPress Hosted and WordPress managed
- However, it is not an absolute denial for brands
- Move leads some to question Matt Mullenweg’s management of WordPress
Since September 2024, WordPress, led by Matthew Mullenweg, has been locked in a battle with WP Engine on licenses and contributions to the WordPress community.
Until now, the battle has seen Mullenweg block the WP engine of open source resources, followed by an order of the court which has forced access to the WP engine to reintegrate and restrictions on the developers deleted.
As part of a wider effort to control the way hosts can use the WordPress name, the WordPress Foundation has also tried to mark brands “ hosted WordPress ” and “ WordPress managed ”, but the office American patents and brands (USPTO) required experiences for the two terms in a first setback for Mullenweg.
Does Mullenweg hurt more than good for WordPress?
Attacks on engine expansion efforts and the WP brand have left many hosts to question the future of their WordPress accommodation products and the possible reaction of the WordPress Foundation on the offenses Open-source software brand.
Although this request for initial non-responsibility gives a certain relief to the hosts, it is not a denial and the term WordPress hosted has already been granted in certain counties. If the brands are granted, this gives more control to the WordPress Foundation on which the web hosting suppliers to which they can grant licenses for the use of sentences.
The WordPress drama has brought a lot to wonder if Mullenweg’s actions are damaging rather than strengthening the WordPress community. Since the attack by WP Engine, 159 Automatic (a company led by Mullenweg) has started with employees because they have disagreed with its leadership.
The non-liability clause requested on brands was deposited by Unterceted.org, a critical website on Mullenweg.
A site spokesman told The register“This represents a great victory for the WordPress ecosystem, and we will continue to fight until there is a responsibility and a change of leadership.”
The spokesperson added: “The WordPress ecosystem is ready for a new leadership, and Joost de Valk, the developer of Yoast SEO, is the first to come to mind.”
De Valk previously called for the decentralization of WordPress around Mullenweg and to create a federated and independent WordPress. In a blog post, he said: “We, the WordPress community, must decide if we are ok being led by one person who controls everything and we can do things with whom we disagree, or if we want something else. For a project whose slogan is “democratizing edition”, we were very weak on exactly that: democracy “.
In response, Mullenwag prohibited Valk from sponsoring and participating in any WordPress event. WordPress is currently feeding more than 43% of the world’s websites, but as web hosts develop their own websites of websites and their uncertainty around WordPress stability, we can see this number start to decrease.
