Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, announced on Reddit that WP Engine initiated legal action against WordPress, Automattic, and Mullenweg himself. Mullenweg stated that WordPress is countersuing.
WP Engine is a leading managed WordPress host provider that Mullenweg alleges is violating the WordPress trademark.
Update: WP Engine Response
WP Engine’s attorney sent a Cease and Desist letter containing the following:
“We are litigation counsel for WP Engine and write to address the serious and repeated misconduct Automattic has directed toward WP Engine over the past several days.
Stunningly, Automattic’s CEO Matthew Mullenweg threatened that if WP Engine did not agree to pay Automattic – his for-profit entity – a very large sum of money before his September 20th keynote address at the WordCamp US Convention, he was going to embark on a self-described “scorched earth nuclear approach” toward WP Engine within the WordPress community and beyond.
…Mr. Mullenweg’s covert demand that WP Engine hand over tens of millions to his for-profit company Automattic, while publicly masquerading as an altruistic protector of the WordPress community, is disgraceful. WP Engine will not accede to these unconscionable demands which not only harm WP Engine and its employees, but also threaten the entire WordPress community.
WP Engine has sought to do the right thing at each stage of Mr. Mullenweg’s wrongful campaign and will continue to do so, with the integrity and candor that are hallmarks of its own culture and that of many other participants in the WordPress ecosystem. Mr. Mullenweg’s words and conduct constitute actionable wrongdoing and must cease immediately.
III. Automattic Must Cease and Desist.
Mr. Mullenweg’s false, misleading, and disparaging statements are legally actionable. They were made to key members of the WordPress and broader software and technology ecosystem, including WP Engine employees and customers at WordCamp US, and were livestreamed across the world via YouTube. Among other things, Mr. Mullenweg’s words and actions threaten to – and appear intended to – harm WP Engine’s business and reputation within the WordPress community and beyond, and tortiously interfere with WP Engine’s contractual relationships with its employees and customers.”
Mullenweg Posts On Reddit
Mullenweg’s comments came in a Reddit thread titled "Matt Mullenweg needs to step down from WordPress.org leadership ASAP" where he explained his side of the issue with WP Engine.
He wrote that he had discussed the situation with WP Engine employees at the WordCamp WordPress conference last Friday, where he mentioned the possibility of providing attendance badges for WP Engine employees if WP Engine were banned. He added that he had been trying to resolve his issue with the company up until his closing Q&A, which turned into a speech about his allegations against WP Engine.
His description:
“That if we had to take down the WP Engine booth and ban WP Engine that evening, my colleague Chloé could print them all new personal badges if they still wanted to attend the conference personally, as they are community members, not just their company.”
Mullenweg insisted that he tried to resolve the conflict:
“The entire day I was in discussions with Heather Brunner and Lee Wittlinger trying to de-escalate and resolve their trademark violations and bad behavior in the WordPress community. I returned to the booth around 4:30 PM to say that I had finally gotten a message back from Lee and Heather and was optimistic we could reach a solution so the booth would not be taken down that evening.
I wanted to resolve everything before my presentation on Friday afternoon, where I was either going to do normal Q&A as planned or present the case for what WP Engine has done wrong. Heather and Lee responded to my text messages but refused to get on a call or reach any sort of verbal understanding with me, and so I delivered the presentation. I was calling both backstage literally minutes before I got on, trying to avoid this entire scenario.
WP Engine has now filed formal legal action against WordPress.org, myself, Automattic, and we are doing the same against them, so I may not be able to comment on this too much in the future.”
Reactions To Mullenweg’s Post
As of this moment, there has been no public announcement by WP Engine. Some Redditors in that discussion were incredulous that Mullenweg put a deadline of that afternoon to finalize a solution with WP Engine.
One Redditor posted:
“What could possibly be resolved in a few hours at a conference? Were they to change their name and cut a fat check that day?”
Mullenweg responded:
“They have been stringing things along for years, it appears their main strategy is just to delay resolution while they continue their bad behavior, printing cash.”
What became clearer later after Mullenweg’s post is that WP Engine sent a Cease and Desist letter to Automattic.
To be very clear, I was 100% cordial and polite to everyone at the booth.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Wirestock Creators
