Posit Trademark FAQ

Not really, no. In the United States you have to use a trademark, meaning offering products or services in connection with the trademark, in order to have any trademark rights. If you do use a trademark, and if no one else began using the same or a similar trademark before you, then you may be able to get a trademark registration from the Patent and Trademark Office.

Yes. Posit owns several trademark registrations, which prove that Posit owns the registered trademarks and has the exclusive right to use them. Posit, RStudio, Shiny and the RStudio logo are all registered trademarks of Posit.

Yes. Posit owns several trademark registrations, which prove that Posit owns the registered trademarks and has the exclusive right to use them. Posit, RStudio, Shiny, and the RStudio logo are all registered trademarks of Posit.

It may seem counterintuitive, but no. The fact that Posit offers free, open source software in connection with the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 (AGPL v.3) means that anyone who complies with the terms of AGPL v.3 has the right to use or further develop Posit’s software code without infringing on Posit’s copyright. Copyright law protects the specific expression of an idea, like a novel, a song, or software. Copyrights are different than trademarks, which distinguish one source of goods or services from all others. So the fact that Posit software is open source only has to do with copyright and not trademark rights. In fact, Section 7(e) of the AGPL v.3 specifically states that software providers can decline to grant rights to use trademarks associated with software offered under the AGPL v.3. Posit does not allow third parties to use its trademarks without permission.

Posit provides its software branded with its own trademarks for you to use. As long as you are simply using Posit’s software for personal use, as provided by Posit, that is fine. But if you use Posit software in connection with Posit trademarks in other ways, then you might not be able to do so without violating Posit’s trademark rights.

If you use Posit’s trademarks on goods or services without permission, consumers will be confused and think that Posit is providing those goods and services, or that Posit approves of or is somehow affiliated with those goods or service. This is not fair, and may also be illegal. Posit has a reputation that is closely connected to its trademarks, and when others use those trademarks without permission, it can damage Posit’s reputation. It may be that these other products or services are inferior to those offered by Posit, or are offered in connection with other products or services that are inferior. Even if the other products or services are of high quality, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that Posit has the right to decide how its trademarks are used and consumers have a right to rely on Posit’s trademarks as a source identifier.

Although this is not meant to be a full and exhaustive list, here are some things that you can’t do with Posit trademarks unless you have permission:
• Combine Posit trademarks with your own trademarks
• Redistribute Posit software on physical media or directly from a website that is not Posit’s while featuring Posit trademarks
• Bundle and redistribute Posit software with other software while using Posit trademarks
• Posit software in connection with Posit trademarks on a password protected website
• Deploy Posit software featuring Posit trademarks within a frame that features your own trademarks
• Incorporate an Posit trademark into a domain name
Ultimately, you need permission to use Posit’s trademarks if it would be possible for consumers to conclude that Posit, PBC is somehow associated with that use.

It is true that a trademark owner cannot prevent all use of its trademarks by others. Sometimes it is necessary to use another company’s trademark to simply refer to the company or its products and services. This is like using someone’s name to identify them. It is also okay to use another company’s trademark to honestly compare their products to yours in advertising. These kinds of uses are considered “fair use” and are generally permitted. However, there are limits. Fair use only permits you to use the least amount of a trademark necessary to make the identification. So, if it’s true, you might be able run an ad that says “MySoftware is more entertaining than Posit because MySoftware plays music!” But you should not use an Posit logo in the ad, because you don’t need to use the logo to identify Posit software.


Also, use of another’s trademark is not “fair” if it suggests a relationship between the other trademark owner and yourself. For example, it may be possible to refer to Posit software on your own website and provide a link that fully resolves to Posit’s website. So long as there are no indications that there is some form of relationship between you and Posit, this might be considered a “fair use.” But if you were to host the Posit software on your own site while using Posit’s trademarks, this would suggest that Posit sponsors or is somehow affiliated with you and your site, and such use of Posit trademarks is not permitted without Posit’s authorization.

To request permission to use a trademark, please contact us at permissions@posit.co. Should Posit grant the requested permission, such permission may be in the form of a written license, which may include a license fee or fees, the details of which will be dependent on the specific request.