The Blender trademark policy is a separate instrument from the GNU GPL that licenses Blender’s code. The Foundation states that Blender is a registered trademark of the Blender Foundation in the EU and USA, that the logo itself is the Foundation’s property, and that the logo and the brand name “Blender” are not part of the GNU GPL and can be used commercially only by the Foundation on products, websites and publications.[2] The trademark policy says the Foundation has used the mark since 2002 and that, although “Blender” is a generic word for a mixer, in the context of products or company names related to software it is protected by trademark law.[1] For a licence manager this is the part of Blender’s terms that restricts what a company may do commercially, even though the software itself may be used and sold freely.
Why the GPL does not cover the brand
The trademark policy gives a short rule: anyone starting a company or website related to Blender services should avoid using the name Blender in it, though it may appear as a secondary tagline, such as “Awesome Company Inc., the Blender specialists”. It says the same applies to forks of the software, which should be given a new name, and adds that this is also enforced by the GPL, which explicitly excludes brand names from the freedom.[1] The policy states three goals: to make it easy for anyone to use the name or logo for community efforts that help spread and improve Blender, to make clear how Blender-related businesses can and cannot use them, and to make it hard to use them to unfairly profit from, trick or confuse people looking for official resources.[1] The Foundation’s licence page adds that it is committed to preserving Blender as free software.[4] The policy says it was inspired by the Mozilla and WordPress trademark policies, and that some exceptions may apply, for example for freely accessible community sites or websites that have existed for many years.[1]
Uses that need no permission
The policy lists uses permitted without specific permission. A person may use the Blender wordmark in text to truthfully refer to or link to unmodified Blender programs, products, services and technologies, and may use the logos in visuals to refer or link to the applicable programs, products, services and technologies hosted on Blender servers.[1] A person may describe an add-on without suggesting that it is published by, affiliated with or endorsed by the Blender Foundation, and may use the wordmark to explain that software is based on Blender’s open source code or is compatible with Blender’s software.[1] Social media accounts, pages and communities may be described with the name provided the name or handle does not begin with Blender and the logos are not used in a way that suggests affiliation.[1]
Uses that need prior written permission
All other uses of the mark require prior written permission, including any use in a domain name.[1] The policy lists what not to do: use the Blender trademark in the name of a business, product, service, app, domain name, publication or other offering; use marks, logos, company names, slogans, domain names or designs that are confusingly similar; imply affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement or approval; display the trademark more prominently than the user’s own product, service or company name; use it on merchandise for sale such as t-shirts or mugs; use it for other commercial purposes such as offering technical support services unless limited to a truthful and descriptive reference such as “Independent technical support for Blender”; or modify, abbreviate or combine it with other symbols, words, images or taglines.[1]
The policy states that it is not intended to limit commercial activity around Blender and encourages Blender-based businesses, naming Superhive, CGCookie and Creative Shrimp as examples of businesses operating in compliance.[1] The practical line is between descriptive use (truthfully stating a service is for Blender) and brand use (making Blender part of the product’s own name).
Logo guidelines
The logo page sets out when third parties may show the logo. The logo is used to brand official Blender Foundation projects and content, and third parties can use it only to give credit for the product Blender or to link to blender.org.[2] Third parties may use it only if all of the following are met.[2]
| Condition | What the guideline says |
|---|---|
| General usage | The logo points to the product Blender or gives credit; a link on a web page should point to blender.org |
| Prominence | The user’s own branding must be more prominent; the logo is a secondary brand and must not be used as the user’s own logo |
| Products | Promotion products such as t-shirts for events or trade show booths are allowed if the logo is a secondary brand |
| Modification | The logo is unaltered, in original colours and typography, and complete (logo plus the text “blender”) |
| Commercial use | Only in exceptional cases is permission granted for commercial products; a picture of the intended use and explicit permission are required |
The page adds that showing the Blender logo in film credits is not considered commercial use.[2] For artwork and community websites it says the many uses of the logo are considered an honest tribute, that the guidelines are not meant to make such uses illegal, and that modifying the logo is part of the artist’s freedom, though the Foundation does not officially approve it.[2]
Credits and the community badge
To say a project was created with Blender, the page advises typing the name instead of using the logo, or including the logo together with others rather than in isolation; the logo may be placed among other logos, for example when listing 3D software.[2] The Foundation also offers a community badge for creators of videos, tutorials, books or other Blender content to add to thumbnails. The badge may only be used to indicate that Blender was used, must not be used as the creator’s logo, and must be used unaltered and complete.[2]
Screenshots, splash screen and icons
The FAQ distinguishes the trademark from the GPL-licensed interface. It says the splash screen and icons are GPL material, so the GPL terms must be followed when using them, and that use of the Blender logo is GPL only within the context of screenshots of the interface, with or without the splash screen. It repeats that the Blender logo is a trademark with separate guidelines and that the Blender Foundation logo is also a trademark used only for official communications.[3]
Related platforms
The Extensions platform applies the same principles to listings: the name “Blender” should not be in the extension name, the Blender logo or icon should not be used in thumbnails, icons or previews, and extensions should not suggest support, endorsement or affiliation.[5] Blender Studio’s terms state that trademarks and logos, including the Blender logo, are copyrighted properties with all rights reserved by their owners, even though the Studio’s digital content is generally available under a Creative Commons licence.[6] For redistributors, the FAQ confirms the combination: a redistributor may name Blender whatever it likes and repackage it under its own branding if it delivers it under the GPL, but cannot change copyright notices or claim to have written the program.[3]
What the policy means for compliance reviews
Reviewing a company’s use of Blender’s brand involves different questions from reviewing its use of the software. A reviewer would check whether product, company or domain names include Blender, whether marketing material shows the logo more prominently than the company’s own brand, whether merchandise carries the mark, and whether support or training services are described descriptively. The Foundation’s documents set the permission route: contact the Foundation with a picture of the intended use for commercial logo use, and ask for explicit permission.[2] The policy is not a licence agreement and no document states a fee for permission.
Out of scope
This article does not cover trademark law, registrations outside the EU and USA, or disputes about third-party use of the name. It does not cover other organisations’ marks that appear in Blender add-ons, which the Extensions terms leave to the extension author to evidence.[5]