Automattic Responds to WP Engine’s Cease and Desist with Legal Action – WP Tavern

After the incidents at WordCamp US 2024, WP Engine despatched a “stop and desist” letter to Automattic demanding that Automattic and its CEO, Matt Mullenweg, retract and cease making false, dangerous, and disparaging statements about WP Engine.

Automattic Confirms Authorized Motion 

Matt Mullenweg has confirmed that they’ve formally initiated authorized motion towards WP Engine for the “Unauthorized Use of WordPress Basis and WooCommerce, Inc. Mental Property” and requested them to cease the unauthorized use of emblems belonging to Automattic & Woo. 

The doc reads, “Our Consumer owns all mental property rights globally in and to the world-famous WOOCOMMERCE and WOO emblems; and the unique business rights from the WordPress Basis to make use of, implement, and sublicense the world-famous WORDPRESS trademark, amongst others, and all different related mental property rights. We’re writing about WP Engine’s webhosting and associated providers that improperly use our Consumer’s WORDPRESS and WOOCOMMERCE emblems of their advertising.“

The letter additional asserts: “We perceive that our Consumer has contacted you about securing a correct license to make use of its emblems, but no such settlement has been reached. As such, your blatant and widespread unlicensed use of our Consumer’s emblems has infringed our Consumer’s rights and confused customers into believing, falsely, that WP Engine is allowed, endorsed, or sponsored by, or in any other case affiliated or related to, our Consumer. WP Engine’s unauthorized use of our Consumer’s emblems additionally dilutes their rights, tarnishes their popularity, and in any other case harms the goodwill they’ve established of their well-known and well-known emblems, and has enabled WP Engine to unfairly compete with our Consumer, resulting in WP Engine’s unjust enrichment.”

The authorized group additionally accuses that, “WP Engine has developed a enterprise producing annual revenues of over $400 million, which has been primarily based completely on intensive and unauthorized makes use of of our Consumer’s emblems.”

Automattic’s attorneys warned, “Our Consumer is entitled to file civil litigation to acquire an injunction and an award of precise damages, a disgorgement of your income, and our Consumer’s prices and charges. Our Consumer is also entitled to hunt an award of lawyer’s charges as a result of dangerous religion and extraordinary nature of WP Engine’s realizing and willful infringements.” 

However Automattic is keen to amicably resolve this matter, together with by way of a licensing relationship to be used of its emblems. WP Engine has time until October 03 to verify its understanding of and compliance with Automattic’s requests together with the beneath ones. 

The doc additionally comprises screenshots (shared beneath) from social media and WP Engine’s web site, highlighting alleged misuse of emblems and neighborhood confusion.

The authorized battle between the 2 giants may have long-term results on the neighborhood at massive. Much more fascinating is that Automattic had invested in WP Engine in 2011. 

Extra About Stop and Desist Letter From WP Engine 

WP Engine’s cease and desist letter acknowledged that “WP Engine is totally ready to take all crucial steps to guard its enterprise, workers and clients, in addition to your complete WordPress ecosystem, from the hurt Automattic is trying to inflict upon them.” 

The doc burdened that “Automattic and its CEO Matthew Mullenweg should instantly stop and desist from disparaging WP Engine and/or its investor by making false factual statements.”

“Mr. Mullenweg’s statements additionally mirror a transparent abuse of his conflicting roles as each (1) the Director of the non-profit WordPress Basis, and (2) the CEO of not less than two for-profit companies that compete with WP Engine. From his sham assertion of trademark rights, to his market-wide disparagement, to disruption of identified enterprise relationships by both convincing or coercing WP Engine’s clients from doing any additional enterprise with it, these acts mirror just some examples of Mr. Mullenweg’s unethical abuse of energy. That Mr. Mullenweg quietly demanded tens of hundreds of thousands from WP Engine for his for-profit firm whereas publicly claiming to be selflessly safeguarding the pursuits of the neighborhood is shameful.” WP Engine’s authorized group acknowledged. 

Matt also attended a Twitter Spaces discussion and Courtney Robertson has shared an AI-generated model of its transcript.

Different Developments

WP Engine’s Information Feed Eliminated?

Matt tweeted about rumors that WP Engine eliminated the information feed from wp-admin dashboards. Some customers confirmed that the entire WordPress Information Metabox has been removed from the WP Engine dashboard however remains to be accessible in Local.

Customers have been divided on the widget’s significance, however a number of folks expressed dissatisfaction with WP Engine’s transfer.

WP Tavern Articles Lacking?

A Reddit post alleged that a number of WPTavern posts had disappeared after the WC US Q&A session. Nonetheless, WPTavern founder Jeff Chandler debunked the claims, stating, “With some assist, I performed an intensive investigation and I can confidently say that not solely have been these posts not deleted, they by no means existed.” The Reddit publish was later deleted.

(This concludes Half 2. Keep tuned for Half 3.)