Trademark Policy

The South Ark owns and oversees the trademarks for the names and logos of South Ark Daily as well as a few other South Ark Weather, LLC related brands. Trademarks are a signifier of a product’s identity and reputation, two things that are vitally important for an open source project like South Ark Daily. In FOSS projects where the code and all of the “traditional” intellectual property is open, the thing that everyone can rely on as a marker of quality and trust is where the trademark is allowed to be used. Putting the official logos and marks on something is a really big deal and we want to protect that value for the integrity of the entire community. The trademark usage policy was developed with the following goals in mind:

  1. We’d like to make it easy for anyone to use the South Ark Daily website for local news.
  2. We’d like to make it clear how South Ark Weather, LLC-related businesses and projects can (and cannot) use the South Ark or South Ark Weather, LLC name and logo.
  3. We’d like to make it hard for anyone to use the South or South Ark name and logo to unfairly profit from, trick or confuse people who are looking for official South Ark Weather, LLC resources.

Trademarks owned by the South Ark

Word Marks

  • The “South Ark Daily” word mark
  • The “South Ark Weather & News” word mark (owned by South Ark Weather, LLC)
  • The “searkweather” word mark
  • The “southarkdaily” word mark
  • South Ark Weather, LLC

WordPress Foundation Trademark Usage Policy

Permission from the WordPress Foundation is required to use the WordPress or WordCamp name or logo as part of any project, product, service, domain name, or company name.

We will grant permission to use the WordPress name and logo for projects that meet the following criteria:

  • The primary purpose of your project is to promote the spread and improvement of the WordPress software.
  • Your project is non-commercial in nature (it can make money to cover its costs or contribute to non-profit entities, but it cannot be run as a for-profit project or business).
  • Your project neither promotes nor is associated with entities that currently fail to comply with the GPL license under which WordPress is distributed.

If your project meets these criteria, you will be permitted to use the WordPress name and logo to promote your project in any way you see fit with one exception: Please do not use WordPress or WordCamp as part of a domain name. Examples of projects in this category are officially recognized WordCamps or international WordPress communities that are dedicated to the translation and distribution of WordPress in their respective countries.

Use of the WordCamp name and logo is additionally allowed in the following situations:

  • You are using the logo on the official site for a WordCamp that has been approved by WordCamp Central.
  • You are using a graphic provided by a WordCamp to promote the event or the fact that you are attending, speaking, volunteering, or sponsoring the event.

All other WordPress-related businesses or projects can use the WordPress name and logo to refer to and explain their services, but they cannot use them as part of a product, project, service, domain name, or company name and they cannot use them in any way that suggests an affiliation with or endorsement by the WordPress Foundation or the WordPress open source project.

For example, a consulting company can describe its business as “123 Web Services, offering WordPress consulting for small businesses,” but cannot call its business “The WordPress Consulting Company.” Similarly, a business related to WordPress themes can describe itself as “XYZ Themes, the world’s best WordPress themes,” but cannot call itself “The WordPress Theme Portal.”

Similarly, it’s OK to use the South Ark or South Ark Daily logo as part of a page that describes your credited news article or services, but it is not OK to use it as part of your company or product logo or branding itself. Under no circumstances is it permitted to use South Ark or South Ark Daily as part of a domain name or top-level domain name.

We do not allow the use of the trademark in advertising, including AdSense/AdWords.

Please note that it is not the goal of this policy to limit commercial activity around South Ark. We encourage South Ark Weather, LLC-based businesses, and hundreds of them are thriving while in compliance with this policy (South Ark Weather, LLC).

The abbreviation “South Ark Daily” is covered by the South Ark trademarks and you are free to use it in any way you see fit.

When in doubt about your use of the WordPress or WordCamp name or logo, please contact the Foundation for clarification.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to drop us a message.