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Trademark Policy — NoLimitConnect

Short version: the code is open source. The name and logo are not. You may use, modify and redistribute the software freely under its licence; you may not brand your version as "NoLimitConnect" or ship it with the NoLimitConnect logo.

1. The marks

The following are trademarks of Brett R. Jones:

  • the name NoLimitConnect, and the abbreviation NLC as used to identify this project
  • the NoLimitConnect logo — two mirrored hooks crossing above a shared bowl, in pink (#FE68B3), blue (#45AEDF) and violet (#B09ED6)

The mark is written as one word, NoLimitConnect. Spacing and capitalisation variants — "No Limit Connect", "Nolimitconnect", "NOLIMITCONNECT" — are the same mark and are covered by this policy; they cannot be used to work around it.

Both forms are used deliberately: the project, repository, website and documentation use NoLimitConnect, while the application presents itself to users as No Limit Connect — its window title, launcher label, desktop entry and store listings — as does the logo lettering. The one-word form is also the only form usable where an identifier forbids spaces (the application ID org.nolimitconnect.NoLimitConnect, package names, the executable and the domain).

These are asserted as common-law trademarks through continuous use in commerce. They are marked ™. They are not currently federally registered, which does not affect their existence — trademark rights in the United States arise from use, not from registration.

2. Trademarks are separate from the source licence

This repository's source code is released under the GNU General Public Licence (see LICENSE).

The GPL is a copyright licence. It grants no trademark rights. This is not a restriction added here — it is how the GPL works. GPLv3 §7 expressly permits declining to grant trademark permission, and GPLv2 is silent on trademarks, with the same result. Copyright and trademark are separate legal rights and are licensed separately.

So the freedoms the GPL gives you over the code are complete and unaffected by this document. What this document addresses is only the use of the name and logo as identifiers of origin.

This is the same arrangement used by Mozilla (Firefox), Kodi, Red Hat and the Linux kernel.

3. What you may do without asking

  • Use, study, modify and redistribute the source code under the terms of LICENSE
  • Distribute unmodified builds under the NoLimitConnect name and logo — whether official binaries or builds you compiled yourself from unmodified source
  • Package the project for app stores and distribution channels — Flathub, Google Play, F-Droid, distribution repositories and the like — building from source and shipping under the name and logo, provided your changes are confined to what packaging requires: build system, dependency, sandboxing and platform-integration adjustments. Packaging patches are expected and permitted; changes to the software's behaviour or features are not. If you are unsure which side of that line a patch falls on, ask (§7) — the answer is usually yes.
  • Refer to the project by name — in documentation, articles, reviews, comparisons, tutorials, package descriptions, academic work, and so on. Nominative reference is always permitted.
  • State truthfully that your work is "based on NoLimitConnect" or "compatible with NoLimitConnect", provided it is not presented as being NoLimitConnect itself

4. What requires written permission

  • Branding a functionally modified version, fork or derivative with the name or logo (packaging builds under §3 are not this)
  • Using the name or logo in the name of your own product, service, company or domain
  • Using the logo as, or as part of, your own logo, icon or app icon
  • Any use suggesting sponsorship, endorsement or affiliation that does not exist
  • Merchandise bearing the mark

If you distribute a functionally modified build, please rename it and replace the icon. This is the standard practice that produced Iceweasel from Firefox, and it protects users from attributing your changes to this project.

5. Logo files in this repository

The logo artwork in this repository — including resources/Resources/nlc-icon.svg, docs/assets/nlc-icon.svg, docs/assets/nlc-logo.svg, org.nolimitconnect.NoLimitConnect.png and the generated icon sets under icons/ — is not licensed under the GPL.

It is included so the project can be built and run as intended, and is used here by permission of the trademark owner.

You may redistribute these files verbatim as part of any distribution of the software permitted by §3 — including source redistribution, and building and shipping the project through app stores and package repositories. This grant exists so downstream packagers can host, build and ship the project complete and unaltered; it is a redistribution permission, not a licence to use the artwork for anything else.

All other rights in the artwork are reserved: it may not be modified, used as or within another logo or icon, or used apart from the software itself, without written permission (§4). Removing or replacing these files does not affect your rights in the code.

6. Proprietary use by the owner

Brett R. Jones retains all rights in the marks and uses them in other work, including proprietary and commercial products. Nothing in this repository's open-source licence limits that.

7. Contact

Permission requests, licensing enquiries and questions about this policy: bjones.engineer@gmail.com

This document states the owner's intent and asserts common-law rights. It is not legal advice, and it does not by itself substitute for registration where registration would be advantageous.