Trademark Policy FAQ
What can I do with domains or company names containing “OpenStreetMap” and other OSM marks?
Domain and company names registered in good faith before January 1st, 2013, will be licensed to the original registrant on request. The license will require that the domain be transferred to the OSMF or de-registered if any of the following events occur:
- no longer in use for OpenStreetMap related services, products or similar;
- change of control events (sale, mergers etc);
- bankruptcy, dissolution, or similar corporate events; or
- death of an individual non-corporate licensee
Alternately, on a case-by-case basis, the OSMF may determine that it is necessary to avoid such issues by having such marks or names transferred to the OSMF and licensing them back to the registrant. In such a case the OSMF will carry all costs of the transfer.
What can I do with domains or company names using remixes of “OpenStreetMap” and other OSM marks?
We intend to apply the same policy and licensing requirements as outlined above for use of remixes of the marks, for example “OpenThingMap”. We will however consider licensing such use for registrations up to the publishing date of the Trademark Policy.
Do I need to add a trademark notice additionally to adding attribution?
We do not require a trademark disclaimer in addition to providing attribution as long as the use is non-confusing, if you use the OSM marks outside of just attribution you do need to provide a notice as suggested in 2.2.
Can I use “State of the Map” or “SOTM” as or in the name of my conference?
3.1 allows use of the marks for community events, however due to the high likelihood of scheduling conflicts and the non-community nature of certain aspects (commercial product marketing and so on) of formal conferences in general, all use of “State of the Map” and “SOTM” require a licence, please use the corresponding template.
I want to run a website for our local user group, using a domain containing “OpenStreetMap”
To support informal local users groups and to keep things simple, the OSMF offers to register the domain for your group and to point it at the groups website as long as the terms of the trademark policy are followed and this can be done without causing conflicts with other user groups.