This document defines the branding policy for events run by third parties that use Apache® marks in the name or primary branding of the event. For more information on use of Apache marks in other areas, see our formal Trademark Policy and site map of resources.
See Also: Trademark Resources Site Map.
The VP, Brand Management, or the VP of the relevant Apache project, must approve the use of Apache marks in any events run by third parties. This includes conferences, meetups, get-togethers, and any other types of events. Events must comply with this policy and have permission to use Apache marks in the name of the event or in any of the primary branding, including website domain names, for the event.
Event branding and event organizers may not claim to be the organizers or sole or exclusive leaders of any Apache project, nor claim to be the sole, exclusive, or primary source of information for any Apache project.
Simply presenting a talk on an Apache project requires no approval, and is very much encouraged! The Community Development Project may be able to help with this. However, you must seek approval when the event name or primary branding features Apache marks. Thus, giving a talk on Apache Foo at your local technology get-together requires no approval, while organizing "An evening with Apache Foo" as an event open to the public does require approval.
Conferences organised by third parties which use Apache marks must have an anti-harassment policy. This policy must either be identical to the ASF Anti-Harassment Policy or be an alternative approved by the ASF.
At least a portion of any training and/or technical presentations at events must be applicable to the Apache product(s) being referenced. For example, an event about Apache Tomcat must include some sessions or lessons that attendees can apply directly to an actual Apache Tomcat download, not just lessons that apply to some third party product(s) built on or related to Apache Tomcat.
Event organizers must allow a project management committee (PMC) representative from any project whose marks are used, or alternately a member from Community Development, to sit on their Selection Committee. The PMC or Community Development representatives will represent the ASF, not their employer, to help ensure that the event follows ASF guidelines. PMC representatives from Apache must be associated with at least two different organizations, to avoid the appearance of the event being tightly tied to one commercial organization.
In particular, PMC representatives shall work to ensure that events with an open CFP or talk selection process work in a fair and unbiased manner, based on technical merit of talks selected. For events that have pre-selected talks or more limited technical content, PMC representatives can ensure that sufficient open educational content is applicable to the actual Apache product(s) in question, and that the content is not solely about a third party product related to or built on an Apache product.
The first and most prominent reference to any Apache product on every page or major section of a page, both in titles and in body text, must use the full name of the project, for example "Apache Tomcat". Professionally-produced events are expected to fully comply with our Apache Product Name Usage Guide.
The event's main landing page, as well as any "About" or "Overview" page, must include a prominent paragraph in the body content or sidebar (i.e., not only in the footer content) that includes a brief description of the appropriate Apache project as an independent project, not just a technology. This must also include a link from the Apache project's name to the project's home page.
Event pages must feature prominent attributions of all Apache marks. For example:
Apache Tomcat, Tomcat, and Apache are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries, and are used with permission. The Apache Software Foundation has no affiliation with and does not endorse or review the materials provided at this event, which is managed by BigCo.
This may appear in page footers or in any other appropriate location. The
"Apache Software Foundation" text should link to http://www.apache.org/ and
the "used with permission" should link to this Event Branding Requirements
page.
You must have permission from a VP of the ASF to use the "used with permission" text.
Normally, events may not use any Apache logos or graphics as part of their primary event branding. An event may only use Apache product logos to refer to the Apache products or projects themselves, and must display such logos apart from any of the event's own branding and logos.
If your event wishes to use an Apache project logo within your event branding, you must work with VP, Brand to obtain explicit trademark and goodwill rights for the brand and event logo.
Event branding may not include the Apache feather in any way.
As a non-profit organization, the ASF always appreciates donations. Community-led events are not required to provide donations. Third-party commercial events are welcome to provide a portion of event profits as a donation to the ASF.
The primary website and other collateral for events must provide The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) with the option to have Apache listed as a Community Partner, Sponsor, or other appropriate category within the event's branding style.
This helps ensure that the ASF as a whole has a formal recognition by the event organizers that is clear and specific to event attendees and others. ASF or project representatives will determine the appropriate text blurb, logo, and link back to the ASF website for this recognition, and will let you know if Apache should be listed for your event. Note that listings for Community Partner or the like are for the Apache Software Foundation as a whole, and individual Apache projects do not typically appear in such listings.
The VP, Conferences proactively seeks to avoid conflicts between Apache-related technology conferences geographically, and between conferences on the same Apache project topics internationally, to ensure that individual conferences are successful and that they are not competing for sponsorship and participation by the same limited community of experts on individual Apache technologies.
The Apache Software Foundation will not approve the use of Apache trademarks in conjunction with competing conferences that would adversely affect each event's ability to put on content (i.e., get speakers, obtain sponsorship) and fulfill the goals of having a rich community event with educational content about Apache projects.
Small events (under 250 expected attendees), and free or purely community-run (non-corporate & non-profit) events might be considered competing only with other events that are about the same Apache project or related Apache projects.
Large events (over 250 expected attendees) may be considered competing with other events even in other Apache project areas, or with the ASF's own Community Over Code conferences.
An Apache "Foundation Event" is an event run by and for the ASF as a whole, will called "Community Over Code" or "ASF Roadshow," and is listed on https://events.apache.org/.
The Apache Software Foundation will not approve the use of Apache trademarks where a date conflict exists with a Foundation Event. A date conflict is defined as:
A proposed event that wishes to become a Foundation Event, as defined above, conflicts if it is within 60 days of a Foundation Event in the same geographical area (i.e., North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia/Pacific) and within 30 days in a different geographical area.
A third-party event, or a project event (i.e., an Apache Foo event run by the Apache Foo PMC) is in conflict if it is within six weeks of a Foundation Event in the same geographical area, or within three weeks in a different geographical area.
To ensure that we can approve your request for use of Apache marks, contact us with early notice of your intended timeframe and location to verify no conflicts, and then follow up with the specific dates and venue once they are scheduled for final approval and to be placed on the Apache calendar.
The VP, Conferences attempts to track all relevant conference dates for the purpose of scheduling and avoiding conflicts. We publish in our calendar all conferences run by the ASF, and those approved to make use of ASF marks. Submitting advance notice of your proposed event's intended dates and prompt confirmation of your scheduled conference dates will ensure this calendar is up to date and help avoid conflicts with related, relevant conferences of the ASF, its partners, and the rest of the industry.
Third party events may not use either the "Apache," "ApacheCon," or the "Community Over Code" names, nor confusingly similar names, as any part of their primary branding. These names are reserved exclusively for the ASF and its own authorized Foundation Events, and for specific PMC-run events that the Foundation approves.
For more information about Apache marks, see our formal Trademark Policy and our site map of Trademark resources.
You must obtain approval in writing from the ASF to use an Apache mark for your conference. If you have not received approval from VP, Brand or an Apache project's VP, then you do not have permission!
Make sure you've done all this and have a mockup of the event's marketing and participant materials ready to show us before asking for permission to use Apache brands. If the ASF needs further information or requires changes, a representative from Brand Management or the Apache project in question will contact you. We will typically make a decision within two weeks of all information being available, and all attributions being present.
Assuming the affected PMCs have approved your event through their appropriate, consensus-based methods and VP Trademarks or their representative has raised no objections, you may proceed with your event as planned. However, note that only explicit approval should be considered authoritative. If in doubt, request explicit approval.
The ASF gives approval for use of our brands for events on a case-by-case basis and each event must request such approval. If you plan to repeat your event, or if you are planning recurring for-profit events, you can save time in the future by contacting us to negotiate a detailed agreement with the ASF.
Nothing in this ASF policy statement shall be interpreted to allow any third party to claim any association with the Apache Software Foundation or any of its projects or to imply any approval or support by ASF for any third party products, services, or events.
This is version 1.7 of this Apache policy document, published in February 2024.
Material changes will be marked with a new version number.
v1.1 Update to have permissions by VP, Brand or designee
v1.2 Clarify blackout dates, event sizes, and About Apache X text; update version number
v1.3 Update to v1.3; clarify Apache Projectname usage; About paragraph; event size and date blackouts; appropriate Apache project logo usage
v1.4 Update to v1.4; require an anti-harassment policy for 3rd party events
v1.5 Update to v1.5; add more detail regarding conflicting event dates
v1.6 Update to v1.6; updated announced event names from ApacheCon to Community Over Code, also clarified "Announced Events" as "Foundation Events," and indicated responsibility of VP, Conferences over event scheduling instead of ComDev.
v1.7 Update to v1.7; update URI for events calendar; remove requirement to provide dates to ComDev.