Open Usage Commons Is Google-Backed Organization For Helping With Open-Source Project Trademarks

Open Usage Commons is a new organization announced today that is backed by Google for helping open-source projects in managing their trademarks.

Open Usage Commons was started by Google in conjunction with academia, independent contributors, and others for helping to assert and manage project identities through trademark management and conformance testing.

The Google Open-Source Blog wrote briefly around the new organization.

Meanwhile in introducing the OUC, the announcement explains, "We created the Open Usage Commons because free and fair open source trademark use is critical to the long-term sustainability of open source. However, understanding and managing trademarks takes more legal know-how than most project maintainers can do themselves. The Open Usage Commons is therefore dedicated to creating a model where everyone in the open source chain – from project maintainers to downstream users to ecosystem companies – has peace of mind around trademark usage and management. The projects in the Open Usage Commons will receive support specific to trademark protection and management, usage guidelines, and conformance testing. The Open Usage Commons will also provide the community with education regarding trademarks."

More details on this new open-source organization at OpenUsage.org.