[theme-reviewers] Clarification of Theme Naming Rules

[Chip Bennett]

Agreed. That's why it is a case-by-case issue. A generic term like
"responsive" has several meanings.

But Apple very much would have a Trademark infringement claim if someone
made a "Granny Smith Apple OS". Likewise, Emil would have a valid complaint
if someone made a "Responsive Reloaded" or "Better Than Responsive" Theme
name.

See what I mean about subjectivity? It's messy. It's ugly. It's subject to
interpretation and opinion.

My goal is to balance due diligence against the need to have a law degree
just to review Themes.


On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 7:17 PM, Merci Javier <mercijavier at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> There's no trademark infringement on one word, specially none as generic
> as responsive.  If one put an "Apple" theme where design was about apples
> etc., Apple can't touch that. I know of a  company who sued a competitor
> for using Yellow Pages plus and lost, didn't get to court, got thown out.
>
> So in effect, if someone used My Responsive World as theme name, that's no
> cause to reject the  theme. No infringement at all.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 3:49 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>wrote:
>
>> And that is the reason for the wording against overly generic "related"
>> terms in Theme names. "Responsive" is pretty close to that line, for
>> exactly the reasons being brought up here.
>>
>> (And this sort of thing is the reason that I've always tried to push for
>> Guidelines to be as objective as feasible: the Theme Name guideline is very
>> much subjective, and thus a potential source of confusion, disagreement,
>> and inconsistency. Though, I don't know that the Theme Name guideline could
>> feasibly be made any less-subjective/more-objective.)
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 6:42 PM, Stuart Wider <stuartwider at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Emil,
>>> I would say that Twenty Eleven is a subtly different kind of name, when
>>> its usage is for themes,
>>>  Twenty Eleven is not commonly used as a web design or theme related
>>> term.
>>> Whereas for example, Responsive or Mobile are commonly used web or theme
>>> design terms and therefore useful in titles so that users know exactly what
>>> kind of theme it is just by looking at the name .
>>>
>>> On Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 9:43 AM, Emil Uzelac <emil at themeid.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Stuart,
>>>>
>>>> Here's me speaking from TRT point of view and taking "Responsive" out.
>>>>
>>>> Twenty Eleven is a number "2011", even more common than the word
>>>> "Responsive", but we still can't use "Super Twenty Eleven".
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Emil
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 5:03 PM, Stuart Wider <stuartwider at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Guys,
>>>>> I note that in the theme review guidelines that is says...
>>>>> "Themes are *not* to use related Theme names (e.g. *WP Twenty Eleven*
>>>>> , *Twenty Eleven WP*, *The Twenty Eleven*, etc.) in their name"
>>>>>
>>>>> Does this mean that if a theme on the repository already has used a
>>>>> particular word in its name that it cannot be used in another themes name?
>>>>>
>>>>> Lets take Emil's theme for example.. The word 'Responsive' is a common
>>>>> usage word.
>>>>>
>>>>> Does the rule above intend that no other theme could use a common
>>>>> usage word such as 'Responsive' in their title, and that Responsive theme
>>>>> itself has the only rights to use that word in a title, on first come first
>>>>> served basis?
>>>>>
>>>>> Here's some quick made up examples of what I mean...
>>>>>
>>>>> Super Responsive
>>>>> Mobile Responsive
>>>>> Responsive to the Max
>>>>>
>>>>> Would those pass as theme names with the above rule? or not allowed?
>>>>>
>>>>> If those names were not allowed then it would follow that if I decided
>>>>> to release a theme called 'Mobile' then no one else would be able to name
>>>>> their theme with the word 'Mobile' in it eg. Ultra Mobile, Mobile Plus,
>>>>> Mega Mobile.
>>>>>
>>>>> To sum up...
>>>>> I'm seeking clarification on whether common usage words can be
>>>>> included in new theme name, even if an existing theme uses the common usage
>>>>> word.
>>>>>
>>>>> Its an interesting conundrum ;)
>>>>>
>>>>> Many Thanks,
>>>>> Stuart
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> theme-reviewers mailing list
>>>>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>>>>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
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>
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