Mothership
What's "Mothership" mean?[edit]
'Mothership' is shorthand for 'Free Geek Portland', the original Free Geek and owners of the trademark on the "Free Geek" name.
Why does it matter?[edit]
Because we're calling this thing "Free Geek Seattle", we could be considered in violation of that trademark if Mothership decided to defend it against us.
They have shown no inclination to do so as of 20150309, but trademarks must be defended to remain valid, so it's something of which we should be aware.
Freegeek.org has the following information about the use of the trademark by other organizations ("Free Geeks"):
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ojbOi-43-ugt1aR30kAaQCcj3RbPBJvQyz8Gl5qktrI/edit?pli=1
- http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php?title=How_to_Start_a_Free_Geek
- http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php?title=Free_Geek_Startups
- http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php?title=Category:Starting_a_Free_Geek
According to http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php?title=Trademark_application_flow_chart, we can't do a final application for trademark use until we've got a space. We sort of have a space, but this might mean a 'dedicated' space, like something FGSEA owns or rents for its sole use. In the meantime there are some intermediate steps to be followed, assuming that Mothership is still even granting trademark permission formally. Have we ever acquired such permission? Do we have it in writing? Have we taken any of the steps laid out, or communicated with Mothership about trademark usage at all?