We just got this email in regards to https://moodle.org/plugins/mod_qpractice / https://github.com/jayeshanandani/moodle-mod_qpractice
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From: [HIDDEN]@clockworklaw.com
Date: Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 10:20 PM
Subject: Your Qpractice Plug-in
The trade-mark registration is http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4805:2wyuy2.2.1
As can be seen there, they filed on 14th May 2014, and were awarded the trade-mark on 17th February 2015.
As can be seen on github (https://github.com/jayeshanandani/moodle-mod_qpractice/commits/master), we were using the name since July 2013. I suppose that is not proof that the code was publicly available there on that date, but in fact it was. I was mentoring Jayesh on a Google summer of code project, and he was in India and I was in the UK, and this is how we communicated about the code.
I am pretty sure that in 2014, a Google search for qpractice would have found out github repo, or plugins DB entry, but I don't know. However, QPractice LLC seem to have done a pretty good SEO job, and now the take the whole first page of Google results.
Anyway, does anyone know what the real legal situation is here?
I have better things to do than rename this module. The name qpractice is just an internal name in the code. The actual name of the module is "Question practice".
Without knowing the law, I feel that a fair compromise would be for us to add a not to our plugins DB entry, and the readme in github, clarifying that this is nothing to do with QPractice LLC, and with a link to their web site. Any other suggestions?
(I have to say, it reminds me of the first two paragraphs from http://megarezo.org/lecture/romans/hhgg/reou_19.html.)
(Edited by Helen Foster to remove email address - original submission Monday, 11 January 2016, 11:14 PM)