Trademark Disputes and Alleged Bad Faith

[cryptobro]

Automattic alleges WP Engine’s post-investment behavior violated trademark rules:

After Silver Lake invested $250M in WP Engine, the host called itself “The WordPress Technology Company” and launched products like Core WordPress and Headless WordPress.

Automattic claims WP Engine negotiated licensing in bad faith, pretending to engage while delaying deals to avoid paying fees.

Counterclaims suggest WP Engine degraded user experience to cut costs and boost profitability.

[Rimon Khan]

Trademark fights get messy fast — alleged bad faith could tip the scales here.

[Abdul Khan]

The outcome will likely influence how aggressively companies protect their brand identities.