kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 4/16/2018 9:35 AM, Gustavo Bruno wrote:
> 2018-04-11 10:46 GMT-03:00 Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx>:
>> On 4/11/2018 9:23 AM, Strontium wrote:
>>> Who pays for that, and who holds it is another question.  But if it
>>> happens,  we should clearly define what's allowed and what's not.  For
>>> example, if you made a board in KiCad, is it allowed to put the KiCad
>>> logo on the boards silkscreen?  What if it's a commercial board, and not
>>> open source?  That sort of thing.
>>
>> As for the KiCad logo on boards designed with KiCad, I personally don't
>> have an issue with anyone adding our logo to their boards be they open
>> or proprietary.  It's free advertising either way.  I doubt many
>> proprietary boards will include any design tool logos.
> 
> Some countries, most notably the US, demands trademark enforcement for
> the the trademark to be kept valid. However, as long as we have clear
> terms (EULA-style, CERN legal team may certainly help with that) that
> explicity allow this kind of use, and define the terms in which it may
> be used, we should not worry.
> 
> IMHO, instead of a KiCad logo, the better way to do this is to have an
> official "Made with KiCad" symbol that makes it clear that it is not
> an official endorsement by the KiCad project, while allowing its use
> with a blanket license.
> 

We already have "Made with KiCad" footprints (although I am surprised
that we don't have a "Made with KiCad" symbol or bitmap to place in
schematics) which are covered under our library license.  However, this
case is the actual KiCad logo for merchandising so any trademarks would
apply.  I am looking into getting KiCad trademarked so we are covered in
this regard.