Trademark Policy and Visual Identity Guidelines

Rules that Apply to Trademarks in General

There are some basic rules that apply to any use of any trade or service mark that you do not own, including any mark of initMAX, without the express permission of the owner.

• A trademark should never be used as a verb or noun.  A trademark should be used only as an adjective followed by the generic name/noun.
• A trademark should not be used in the plural or possessive form.
• A trademark should not be altered or amended in any way.  A mark should not be combined with any other mark, hyphenated, abbreviated or displayed in parts.
• A trademark that is depicted as two or more words should not be compressed into one word. A logo should not be displayed with color variations, or with other elements superimposed on top of the logo.
• A trademark should not be used as your domain name or as part of your domain name.
• A trademark should not be used as part of your product name.
• A trademark should not be incorporated into your company’s logos or designs.
• A trademark notice should be used on the most prominent and/or first appearance of each mark of initMAX, and a trademark notice should not be changed. In particular, a ™ should not be changed to an ® in a trademark notice by anyone other than the owner. If you are unsure about whether a mark of initMAX is registered in your country, please contact us for additional guidance as to what trademark symbol you should use.

There are also some basic rights that everyone has to use any trademark, which are often referred to as “fair use,” and initMAX does not intend to restrict those rights. You may make fair use of word marks to make true factual statements. But fair use does not permit you to state or imply that the owner of a mark produces, endorses, or supports your company, products, or services.  Even when making fair use of a trademark, you should acknowledge the owner of the trademark with a trademark notice, such as the notice displayed on initMAX project websites.

Rules and Policies Applicable to Marks Owned by initMAX

In addition to the generally applicable rules discussed above, there are a few specific rules that we ask everyone to follow when using trademarks owned by initMAX:

• Use initMAX trademarks in a form that distinguishes them from the text around them, such as by bold or italic fonts, or with quotation marks.
• Use initMAX trademark in a form where letters “init” are in lowercase and letters “MAX” in uppercase.
• Do not use initMAX trademarks in a manner that would disparage initMAX (e.g., untruthful advertising, false/misleading promotional materials, etc.).
• Do not use initMAX logo on the cover of a book or magazine without written permission from initMAX.
• Do not use initMAX trademarks or logo in the name of your business, product, service, app, domain name, publication, or other offering.
• Don’t use marks, logos, company names, slogans, domain names, or designs that are confusingly similar to initMAX trademarks.
• Do not use initMAX trademarks more prominently than your own company, product or service name.
• Do not use the logo of initMAX on posters, brochures, signs, websites, or other marketing materials to promote your events, products or services without written permission from initMAX.
• Do not refer to a product or service as being certified under any of initMAX marks unless your company has successfully undergone the requisite compliance testing and has explicit authorization to use such terms from initMAX.
• Do not attempt to claim or assert any ownership rights in any mark of initMAX and do not attempt to register any initMAX trademark as a trademark, trade name, domain name, or “doing business as” name, alone or (unless specifically licensed) in combination with your own trademarks. initMAX marks have been created and their use is expressly permitted for a specific purpose.
• Do not use logos or names of initMAX in any commercial or marketing context other than as expressly permitted in this policy unless you have obtained explicit written permission from initMAX to do so.

You are also allowed to use a trademark or logo of initMAX as a link to the home page of the applicable project or to a web page on initMAX web site that is relevant to the reference so long as the link is in a manner that is consistent with the preservation of the goodwill and value of the mark.  The link and all other usage of a logo of initMAX shall be done using the official versions of initMAX logos obtained from initMAX.

initMAX Logo Visual Guidelines

If your use of a logo is permitted under the initMax trademark policy, then please refer to the initMax Visual Identity Guide below for detailed information on proper usage.

Social Media Guidelines

The name and handle of your social media account and any and all pages cannot begin with a initMAX trademark. In addition, initMAX logos cannot be used in a way that might suggest affiliation with initMAX, including, but not limited to, the account, profile, or header images. The only exception to these requirements is if you’ve received prior permission from initMAX.

For example, you cannot name your account, page, or community “initMAX Representatives”, “initMAX Partner” or “initMAX Software”. However, it would be acceptable to name your account, page, or community “Fans of initMAX” or “Information about initMAX widgets” as long as you do not use the initMAX logo or otherwise suggest any affiliation with initMAX.

Questions, Comments, Concerns

If you have any doubts about using the initMAX trademark after reading this Trademark policy, please contact us and a member of our team will be in touch with you shortly. If you are aware of a breach or misuse of the initMAX trademark in any way, we would appreciate you bringing this to our attention. Please use our Contact form to ask your question about trademark use or report trademark abuse so that we can investigate it further.

Disclaimer

initMAX does not make any express or implied warranties, including but not limited to the warranties of non-infringement of any third party intellectual property rights. initMAX does not warrant that any pending trademark applications for trademarks of initMAX will result in any granted trademark protection. initMAX shall not be liable for any claims relating to your use of trademarks of initMAX.

Updates

initMAX may release new versions of initMAX trademark policy or statements of permitted use of initMAX marks without notice.

You accept that all licenses accorded under this policy are non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sub-licensable, revocable at any time, and subject to changes in policy. Hence, changes in this policy may cause permissions to be revoked or made dependent on additional obligations.

Consequences of Unauthorized Use

Unauthorized use of initMAX Branding Material may result in legal action and/or disciplinary action. initMAX reserves the right to take any and all measures to protect its brand and intellectual property rights, including but not limited to seeking damages, injunctive relief, and attorney’s fees.

Other Legal Notes

Any license granted under this policy can be terminated upon five (5) days prior written notice if you breach any provision of this policy. If your breach can be repaired (and you have not previously breached this policy), you may be granted fifteen (15) days from the date of notice to repair the breach.

If any provision of this policy is found by any court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, the invalidity or unenforceable nature of such provision shall not affect the other provisions of this policy, so that all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect. In such case, the invalid or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid or enforceable provision that achieves to the greatest extent possible the economic, legal, and commercial objectives of the invalid or unenforceable provision.

Effective Date: March 1, 2026

This work is inspired by the Linux Foundation Trademark Policy, Mozilla Foundation Trademark Policy, Zabbix trademark policy, and the GNOME Trademark Licensing. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (“CC-BY-4.0”, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).