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The dispute over 'WordPress' has escalated into a lawsuit.
The dispute over 'WordPress' has escalated into a lawsuit.

Tech

The dispute over ‘WordPress’ has escalated into a lawsuit.

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WP Engine, a web hosting service, is suing WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and his company, Automattic, for alleged libel and attempted extortion after a dispute over the WordPress trademark and the open-source project. In the federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday, WP Engine accuses Mullenweg and Automattic of “abuse of power, extortion, and greed,” seeking to stop further harm to WP Engine and the WordPress community.

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Vector illustration of the WordPress logo.

WP Engine, which serves over 200,000 websites, competes with WordPress.com, a platform owned by Automattic that offers a hosted version of the open-source WordPress software. The lawsuit follows a heated disagreement over trademark infringement and whether WP Engine should pay licensing fees for using the open-source WordPress software. Mullenweg referred to WP Engine as a “cancer to WordPress” on his blog, leading to a cease-and-desist letter from WP Engine demanding a retraction. Automattic then accused WP Engine of infringing on WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks, demanding eight percent of its monthly revenue as royalties.

WP Engine’s lawsuit includes 11 allegations against Mullenweg and Automattic, ranging from libel and slander to attempted extortion and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The company also claims the WordPress Foundation, led by Mullenweg, failed to disclose its trademark ownership to the IRS and that Mullenweg made false statements to the IRS. In a statement, WP Engine expressed concern over governance issues, saying it was forced to take legal action to protect its people, partners, customers, and the WordPress community.

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