Greetings,
Apologies for our delay in this response. In addition to the holiday weekend, questions
related to HR issues require extra care and verification on our part. But again, I do want
to apologize for that process taking all week.
Regarding Lodewijk's questions about Sue's special advisor role, including the
timeline and how compensation was set, Sue served as a special advisor until May 31, 2016.
Her pay included compensation for her extended role during the ED transition, and to match
market rates for a role of this nature in organizations of similar size to the Wikimedia
Foundation. Our Board Chair, Patricio Lorente, gave a response to the Signpost that
provides more information[1].
John asked about filing and other fees paid by Jones Day, and if the fees were separate
from consulting costs. Unfortunately, we don’t have an easy, quick way to divide the Jones
Day expenses into registration fees and legal fees, but we can provide more information
about where the costs came from. Each trademark application costs about $1,000–5,000
(sometimes more), including filing fees and attorney’s fees. The cost for each application
depends on the country’s application fees, the country’s administrative hurdles, the
breadth of protection we are seeking, whether we can reuse materials prepared for previous
applications, and whether we encounter resistance from trademark offices or other
trademark holders.
Finally, regarding John's question about non-program service investment in Europe
(page 35), this represents our foreign currency bank accounts with JP Morgan in the UK.
The purpose of this holding is to retain donations received in EUR, GBP, CAD and AUD in
their original currency to minimize currency exchange risks.
I hope that clarifies the remaining questions, and again, thank you for your questions and
feedback both on this list and elsewhere.
-Gregory Varnum
Wikimedia Foundation
1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2016-05-28/Speci…
On May 31, 2016, at 12:01 PM, Greg Varnum
<gvarnum(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Greetings,
I just wanted to verify that we will be sending out answers to these additional
questions. This past weekend was a holiday in the United States, and so we have not yet
finished gathering the information to give accurate response.
Thank you for your patience, and please let me know if you have any additional
questions.
Gregory Varnum
Wikimedia Foundation
On May 31, 2016, at 4:16 AM, Lodewijk
<lodewijk(a)effeietsanders.org> wrote:
Hi,
Unfortunately I haven't seen an answer to my questions. Could you please
acknowledge the receipt of the question if you're investigating? Or could
you just say it is a ridiculous question and that you refuse to answer, if
you think so? From the more elaborate answer on the Signpost questions, I
understand that the role continues to this day - which makes it probably
more relevant.
Please don't retreat in silence again.
Lodewijk
2016-05-25 14:39 GMT+02:00 Lodewijk <lodewijk(a)effeietsanders.org>rg>:
Thanks Greg for the responses.
As for the ED team, that answers part of my question. That Sue was
appointed as special advisor, was indeed public knowledge - but for what
duration was that? And was that a full time position (or anything near full
time), given that her compensation was as high as that of the ED herself?
People suggested that this included compensation for earlier years - was
that the case? That would explain again a bit more.
Also part of the question was why the raise was so steep - was this simply
matching the reality of the current job market, or was there something else
behind it (i.e. a bonus mechanism etc).
It would be great if you could clarify! Thanks!
Lodewijk
2016-05-25 12:45 GMT+02:00 John Mark Vandenberg <jayvdb(a)gmail.com>om>:
On Wed, May 25, 2016 at 6:31 AM, Gregory Varnum
<gvarnum(a)wikimedia.org>
wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> Thank you to everyone for your questions and thoughts regarding the
Wikimedia Foundation's Form 990.
>
> Regarding Lodewijk's first question about the legal services (totalling
US$1.7M) which were conducted by Jones Day (page 61 - Part VII): As our
global reach has grown over time, we felt it was important to strengthen
the trademark portfolio and solidify the protection of Wikimedia’s marks
globally. In December 2013, we began working with Jones Day on our global
trademark filings, registrations, and oppositions. During the 2014-2015
fiscal year we filed 1,500+ new trademark applications for 35 different
trademarks in 100+ countries. A significant portion of the legal services
expenses in 2014-2015 went toward the mandatory government trademark
application filing fees.
>
> These new trademark applications contained expanded coverage and
revised descriptions to ensure better protection of Wikimedia's marks and
projects, including countries where readership was growing through targeted
programs or distribution (such as Wikipedia Zero and mobile readership).
Going forward, we anticipate (and are beginning to realize) a decrease in
trademark expenses year over year, now that we have this initial foundation
is in place. This investment immediately benefits Wikimedia and its
communities by ensuring that our trademark portfolio reflects the maturity
and breadth of the Wikimedia movement, and protects us against certain
forms of infringement or misuse.
Hi Gregory,
Just to confirm, the stated US$1.7M stated on page p.61 includes
filing and other fees paid by Jones Day to relevant government bodies
around the world?
If so, any chance you can separate it into such fees paid *through*
Jones Day, vs the consultation fees of Jones Day.
You say it was a 'significant portion', but that is very vague
terminology, meaning very different things to different people; it
would be nice to have a ball park figure.
Also there was a USD ~5.2 M investment in Europe listed on p. 35 as
not being program services. I didn't see any reference to it in the
FAQ; apologies if I missed it (It would be lovely if the source
document was posted on meta for easier navigation, etc.). Could we
have a little more info about this line item?
--
John Vandenberg
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Communications Strategist (Contractor)
Wikimedia Foundation
gvarnum(a)wikimedia.org
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