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We need to link to Quantum GIS on a major official website. My legal department asks me if "Quantum GIS" is trademarked. Is it? Thanks -- Alex

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Check out the website under about. – lewis Jan 31 at 15:27
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@lewis why not answering the question if you know it? – donschoe Jan 31 at 15:50
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Thanks Lewis, while the about page does mention the origin of the name, it currently says nothing about whether it is trademarked or not. Right? – Satri Jan 31 at 16:28
I reply below Satri – lewis Feb 1 at 14:08
More open source projects are registering their names to protect them, see the example of issues surrounding Firefox: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Firefox#Naming – scw Feb 6 at 20:59

4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Short answer: No it is not yet trademarked.

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Tim, you say "not yet", does that mean you (plural) intend to undertake that at some point? – matt wilkie♦ Feb 1 at 17:25
up vote 16 down vote

  • The phrase, "Quantum GIS", is not found in the US Trademark electronic search.

  • Trademark status is not mentioned on the Quantum GIS website, nor is,

  • a trademark symbol nor statement used in the documentation.

  • The OSGeo website does have two trademark-related pages, but they only mention various OSGeo and FOSS trademarks.

You might check the archives of the mailing lists, particularly the project steering committee.

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+1 for the trademark electronic search – nickves Jan 31 at 21:22
up vote 8 down vote

Their wiki discusses how to cite the software

Cite the QGIS project in general

Quantum GIS Development Team, <YEAR>. Quantum GIS Geographic Information System. Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project. http://qgis.osgeo.org

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up vote 0 down vote

Because I like to encourage research, however, I take your point. My research indicates that the answer can be gleaned from the documentation.

"This document is the original user guide of the described software Quantum GIS. The software and hardware described in this document are in most cases registered trademarks and are therefore subject to the legal requirements. Quantum GIS is subject to the GNU General Public License. Find more information on the Quantum GIS Homepage"

http://www.qgis.org.

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