[Foundation-l] Re: what is partnership ?

[Michael Snow]

Neil Harris wrote:

> I agree: there can be many partners, and there's no reason not to be 
> partners with many people and organizations. But with the Wikipedia 
> brand becoming more and more valuable, and official trademark 
> recognition in the offing, there needs to be an official process for 
> registration of Wikipedia/Wikimedia partners. In particular, I believe 
> that the Foundation will have a legal requirement to defend its 
> trademarks Real Soon Now, and not doing so risks losing the rights 
> over that trademark and becoming a [[genericized trademark]].

Other organizations identifying us as their partners is not that great 
of a threat to trademark status, although it does create some potential 
for brand confusion. The scenario in which our trademarks would become 
genericized is if, for example, we allow anybody to call some wiki, or 
even a non-wiki reference site, a "wikipedia". That's the kind of 
situation that would really call for action.

--Michael Snow