[Phicau]

Dear all,

When facing some adversities, we have the choice to see an obstacle or an opportunity.

After so much work developing olaFoam to provide an advanced and easy to use wave generation framework in OpenFOAM®, ESI-OpenCFD, the company that owns the OpenFOAM trademark has determined that I must cease to use the name olaFoam, without alternative or dialogue options.

I have decided to see this as an opportunity to find a better name and connect with you, the users, to find new ideas to keep expanding all this work and following my deep beliefs in open source.

So, what comes next? You name it, literally!

I would be grateful if you could share this post with your colleagues and let me know which is your preferred name for the new project from the list below. Also, feel free to suggest additional names and features that you would like to see implemented in the comments.

As you have probably guessed, I would like to keep using the word "ola", which means wave in Spanish, and will help people to be less confused with yet another change in the project name...

• olaFlow
• olaSolver
• olaRANS
• olaNS
• olaDynamics
• olaWave

Lastly, I would like to thank all of the olaFoam users, your feedback has been amazing and it is the fuel that helps me move forward.

[kcjarvis56]

olaCFD comes to mind.

[Phicau]

Yes, indeed that is a great name, thanks for suggesting it!

I wonder if ESI will make any trouble because they have also registered openCFD. Open and CFD are general and widely used terms, though, which shouldn't be problematic when used separately, right?

Anyone knowledgeable with trademarks to offer an insight?

[piu58]

I like the ..Foam in al things which are based on OpenFoam. So I think in the direction of OlaWaveFoam or similar.

[Phicau]

That is exactly the problem, they do not allow me to use the Foam at the end...

https://www.openfoam.com/legal/trademark-policy.php

[vatavuk]

Hi,

I think OlaFLOW would be nice because the sound resembles the original OlaFOAM.

[Phicau]

Thanks Paulo, I totally agree with you.

[akidess]

olaFOM ...

[Phicau]

Hahahahaha! Nice name olaFOM (oFfshore cOastal & Marine)

[mzzmrt]

How about OpenOLA

[wyldckat]

Greetings to all,

Originally Posted by Phicau

I wonder if ESI will make any trouble because they have also registered openCFD. Open and CFD are general and widely used terms, though, which shouldn't be problematic when used separately, right?

Anyone knowledgeable with trademarks to offer an insight?

I'm not a specialist, but I've read a few things on the topic and the following is what I can draw from memory:

• Trademark specifications and requirements may vary from country to country.
• Registering in one country does not necessarily restrain the usage of that trademark on other countries, unless the countries in question have an agreement on how those registrations are respected...
  • For example, there was a considerable trademark battle in Brazil over the trademark "iPhone", which seems like Apple Inc eventually won.
• There is usually a stipulation that registered trademarks must define in which context they refer to. For example, the trademark "OPENCFD" could be registered by a soap/detergent manufacturer as a brand of soap .
  • "Apple" is yet again another example, where Apple Records sued Apple Computer (now Apple Inc) several times in the past...
• Registered trademarks usually have a time frame of proper usage and subsequent payment for keeping/renewing the trademark.
• Defense must be made frequently, when the trademark is put into question, otherwise there is a risk of loosing said trademark. For example, if a trademark is a word that ends up being too commonly used by other companies, without respecting the trademark protocols, there is a risk that it could become indefensible in court. But again, may vary with country.
• Having very similar trademark names in the same context is usually a big no-no, hence the reason why the trademark guidelines page exists at OpenFOAM.com: https://www.openfoam.com/legal/trademark-guidelines.php
• Oh, and finally, do not assume that normal conventional names cannot be trademarked... Search for:
  

  king candy crush saga trademark

  ... for a period in time, "candy" and "saga" were words good enough to go to court over them...

I very vaguely remember reading about something regarding the aforementioned trademark and the conferences held by IconCFD, namely the ones hosted here: https://www.opensourcecfd.com/ - but I can't find them in the forum anymore... but that's solved and in the long long lost past by now.



As for renaming the "olaFoam" project: Make sure you Google the new name, before adopting it It's amazing how many projects have identical names, because people didn't search for them before naming the project.

Best regards,
Bruno

[Phicau]

Hi Bruno,

thanks (yet once again!). All your points are very clarifying and helpful, completely aligned with what I was told this past week.

By the way, it would be amazing to have a soap brand called openFoam, hahaha.

Cheers,

Pablo