Is there a copyleft equivalent for trademarks? I’m thinking of starting a project with distinct branding but I want everything to be based in FOSS principles.
Is there a copyleft equivalent for trademarks? I’m thinking of starting a project with distinct branding but I want everything to be based in FOSS principles.
This isn’t how trademarks work, unfortunately. A trademark is something that only your business gets to use. Your unique use of the trademark means anything using it comes from you.
You can grant others the ability to use your trademark. Without that approval process that has to go through you, anyone could use it, though. If you don’t attempt to enforce your trademark, you could lose the mark depending on the extent of the infringement. Different folks will tell you different things there.
I wouldn’t say unfortunately. Trademark is an important customer protection mechanism, because it allows you to know what to expect from a product or service - even communist countries have trademarks for this reason. For example, if some browser is called Firefox you have the expectation that it allows you to install an ad blocker and if it’s named Chrome you have the expectation it… backs up all your personal data in Google’s servers, for clothing it’s important to know if you are buying something from a brand that makes durable clothing or if it’s discardable crap like Primark, and for professional products the difference between a reputable manufacturer and a bad one can literally mean life or death. What’s unfortunate is that companies like Disney and Sanrio commodified trademark by building brand cults.
Another example of trademark breaking down is the promulgation of random-letters brand names in Amazon listings.