Debian's Trademark

Trademark Licensing Policy

Debian is committed to protect and ensure consistent usage of its trademark, logos, and styles and also make it easier for every bonafide user to use. As a part of this process, the Debian trademark is a registed United States trademark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc., managed by the Debian project. For registration outside the United States, we have filed a Madrid Protocol application to extend the protection in the European Union, China and Japan; the Debian trademark is also registered in Brazil, N. do processo 827045310.

The Debian trademark was first registered the 21st of December of 1999, but has been in use since August 1993. It is registered under the Nice Class 009: Computer Utility and Operating System Software.

The current policy governing usage of the Debian trademark was announced by Bruce Perens, Debian Project Leader, in 1998:

We allow all businesses to make reasonable use of the Debian trademark. For example, if you make a CD of our Debian GNU/Linux distribution, you can call that product Debian. If you want to use the name in some other way, you should ask us first.
To be fair to all businesses, we insist that no business use the name Debian in the name of the business, or a domain name of the business.

For inquiries about the Debian trademarks, please contact trademark@debian.org. To request usage of Debian trademarks for purposes other than those allowed by the Debian trademark policy, please mail trademark@debian.org with subject Trademark Use Request; be sure to include the following information in the body of your message:

Name of the User
Name of the organization/project
Purpose of Use (commercial/non-commercial)
Nature of Use

Work in Progress

As announced by Stefano Zacchiroli, Debian Project Leader, in August 2011, the current Debian Trademark Policy is being reviewed, in collaboration with SPI and SFLC.

Previous drafts of a new trademark policy, by Benjamin Mako Hill and Branden Robinson are available and are being used as basis for the forthcoming policy.

Organisations licensed to use the trademark

The following organisations have been licensed to use the Debian trademark through a License Agreement:

Stiftelsen SLX Debian Labs, per SPI's resolution 2004-01-05.bmh.1.
Vincent Renardias and Les logiciels du soleil, per SPI's resolution 1999-08-06.mgs.
The Debian UK Society, by Branden Robinson, Debian Project Leader.
debian.ch, by Stefano Zacchiroli, Debian Project Leader.