Terms & Policies

Last Updated: July 25, 2024

At Chainguard, our mission is to be the safe source for open source. It is important that we maintain this reputation as a safe source through our trademarks. Trademarks help consumers distinguish a product/service from another and provide assurance as to the quality of the products/services with which the trademark is associated. While copyrights and patents are designed to incentivize creative works and useful inventions, trademarks are fundamentally concerned with this consumer production and can be licensed differently. We remain committed to open source licensing principles, which primarily concern copyright associated with software, while also signaling and protecting consumers via trademarks as to what products and services are coming from us. As such, we have created this Chainguard Trademark Use Policy (“Policy”) to ensure that our trademarks remain reliable indicators of the qualities that they are meant to preserve and not get in the way of your ability to create and exercise your rights granted under open source and other licenses.

This Policy outlines the ways that you may use Chainguard’s trademarks, scenarios where use is not permitted, or where Chainguard’s permission may be required. Nothing in this Policy is intended to limit any lawful rights that you may have, including any fair use of Chainguard’s trademarks.

Chainguard Trademarks 

What Are the Chainguard Trademarks? 

The Chainguard trademarks and service marks that are covered by this Policy (“Marks”) include: 

• Chainguard™ in connection with software tools and platform for container image registry services and related educational services.

• Our Wolfi™ in connection with software tools and related community services.

• Safe Source for Open Source^TM in connection with software tools and platform for container image registry services.

Please note that this list may be updated from time to time as we adopt or register new trademarks and service marks.

This Policy does not cover the use of Chainguard logos such as our octopus designs or other stylized versions of our Marks (“Logos”), because we consider the use of Logos to be generally prohibited uses that do not fall under any of the permitted uses under this Policy.  Please contact us if you have any questions or want to ask permission to use any of these excluded Logos.

When and How You Can Use the Chainguard Marks 

You may use the Chainguard Marks if you are identifying Chainguard products or services, or if you are truthfully describing your own product and services’ relationship with our products and services. Your use of the Chainguard Marks must always be done so in a way that does not mislead anyone, either directly or indirectly, about exactly what they are getting and from whom.  

In determining whether or not your use of the Chainguard Marks is permitted, you should consider: 

• Is the use of the Mark necessary in order to accurately identify and refer to Chainguard’s products or services? 

• Is the way that you are using the Marks likely to cause confusion about the source of the product or service? 

• Does your use imply some kind of relationship with or endorsement by Chainguard that does not actually exist? 

• Is there an alternative term that you could use, or can you avoid using the Mark in a way that still conveys the same meaning? 

Uses of the Marks that We Primarily Consider Non-Infringing

1. Distribution of unmodified source code or unmodified executable code from Chainguard.  Here you are not changing the quality of nature of the code in any way.  

   1. When you redistribute an unmodified copy of our software, you are not changing the quality or nature of it. Therefore, you may retain any of our Marks, as well as any logos or other indicia of source we have included in the software. This kind of use only applies if you are redistributing an official distribution from Chainguard that has not been changed in any way.

2. Relationship statements. You can truthfully describe the relationship between yourself and Chainguard. For example, “[Your software] uses Chainguard (and/or Wolfi)”

3. Publications and presentations. You can use the Marks in publications and presentations, even in the titles of the same, so long as the use does not suggest that we have published, endorse, or agree with your work.

How to Use the Chainguard Marks 

If your use of the Marks is permitted under this Policy, or if you have written permission from us to use our Marks, please be sure to use the Marks properly. Use the exact mark with proper capitalization and without any abbreviations, misspellings, or in combination with other words or Marks. Your first and/or most prominent use of the Chainguard Marks should be accompanied by a ™ symbol or a ® symbol if the mark is registered as indicated in the section above. You should also include a notice that “[Mark] is a trademark of Chainguard, Inc.”

You agree that any goodwill that is associated with your use of the Chainguard Marks inure solely to the benefit of Chainguard. 

Ways You Should Not Use the Chainguard Marks 

Your use of the Chainguard Marks must not be in a way that is confusing, false, or misleading or imply affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship where it does not exist. Misspelling, hyphenating, abbreviating, or otherwise changing the Chainguard Marks (such as Chain guard, Chain-guard, W0lfi, etc.), using transliterations or translations, using marks that are confusingly similar to the Chainguard Marks (such as Chainguardian, Wolfy, etc.) in connection with the same, similar, or related goods/services, or combining the Chainguard Marks with other words or symbols are all considered to be confusing, false, or misleading uses of the Chainguard Marks. 

Here are some non-exhaustive ways that you may not use the Chainguard Marks: 

• In the name of your business, products, service, app, publication, domain name, subdomain, or other offering. 

• More prominently than your own company name, product, or service. 

• On merchandise or other promotional goods for sale. 

• In any other forms of commercial use, unless it’s for truthful descriptive reference to Chainguard products or services. 

Where to Get Further Information

If you have questions regarding this Policy, or would like to use the Chainguard Marks in ways not covered in this Policy, please reach out to us at legal@chainguard.dev. 

Chainguard reserves the right to terminate or modify your permission at any time in order to maintain the high quality and goodwill that is associated with the Chainguard Marks. 

Reporting Misuse/Abuse of Chainguard Marks 

If you are aware of or come across any misuse or abuse of the Chainguard Marks, please contact us at legal@chainguard.dev.