Trademark & Licensing

This Policy covers general rules for referring to the Open edX platform and using trademarks, service marks, and logos that The Center for Reimagining Learning (the “Organization” or “Org”) may license to you (collectively, “Org Marks”).

The following is a non-exhaustive list of Org Marks:

• Open edX^®*
• MicroMasters^®
• MicroBachelors^®

* The Organization is an authorized licensee of the Open edX® trademark and this Mark is used by the Organization with permission of the trademark owner.

Trademark guidelines for several of the Marks are linked below. The Organization reserves the right to change the terms of this Policy or any guidelines at any time, in its sole discretion, by posting the updated Policy or guidelines to the Open edX website. To ask any questions about this Policy or to report any unauthorized use of the Marks, please email trademarks@tcril.org.

General Rule: Permission Required

As a rule, a trademark license is required in order to use any Org Mark. Except for the three exceptions outlined below, this Policy does not count as “permission to use” any trademarks, and there are no “open source” pre-approved use cases. To request permission to use any Org Mark, please email trademarks@tcril.org.

Exceptions

Without a separate trademark license:

• You may use Org Marks in text for the sole purpose of referring to or describing the Organization’s websites, products, and services. For example: if you have a product or service that is compatible with the Open edX platform, you may use “Open edX” to describe the compatibility, such as “runs on,” “for use on,” or “compatible with” the Open edX platform.

• If you use the Open edX platform:
  • you should add the “Powered by Open edX” logo in the footer of each page of your website, and the logo should include a live link to the Open edX website. See the Powered by Open edX logo page for variants of this logo and instructions on how to add it to your instance; and
  • you may use the “Powered by Open edX” logo on any course certificates or other credentials issued in connection with your instance in accordance with the Open edX trademark guidelines linked below.

• If you offer services and/or products that support the Open edX platform, you may use the “Open edX” word mark in the path of a URL for your website for such services and/or products. For clarity, this exception applies solely to (1) the “Open edX” word mark and not to any other Org Marks and (2) use in the path of a URL; you may not use the “Open edX” word mark or any other Org Mark in a website domain. For example:

❌ openedx.yourdomain.org

✔ www.yourdomain.com/services/openedx

Specifications for Use

All uses of Org Marks must comply with the applicable trademark guidelines and also:

• Identify the Open edX, MicroMasters, and MicroBachelors marks as registered trademarks ® .
  The above-listed Org Marks are registered by the Organization or the applicable trademark owner in a number of countries around the world. For the first and most prominent usage of the above-listed Org Marks in any context, use the symbol “®” after the Org Mark as a notice to third parties of the trademark owner’s rights in these Org Marks. (Later uses on that same website, document, or other material do not need to be marked.)

• Include a trademark attribution statement.
  If an Org Mark appears on your website, document, or other material, add the following attribution statement that identifies the trademark owner:

“Open edX is a registered trademark of edX LLC. MicroMasters and MicroBachelors are registered trademarks of The Center for Reimagining Learning. All Rights Reserved.”

The statement must be in a legible font and size at the bottom of your website or the end of your advertisement or publication. If you are using only one or two Org Marks, you may shorten the statement to list only those Marks in use. Additionally, any use of the Open edX logo on a website must include a live link to the Open edX website.

• Use Org Marks only as adjectives.
  Trademarks are adjectives, and an Org Mark should be used only to describe the Organization’s websites, products, or services to which the trademark applies — for example, the “Open edX platform”, a “MicroMasters program”, or a “MicroBachelors program”.

• Use Org Marks less prominently than your own.
  Except where otherwise expressly permitted by the Organization, any use of an Org Mark must appear less prominent than your own product or service name.

• Do NOT change the spelling or appearance of any Org Marks.
  Do not abbreviate, hyphenate, create acronyms; change the spelling, capitalization, or appearance; add or delete any words or spacing; change any color or proportion; or otherwise modify the logo or design of an Org Mark in any way. Only use an approved logo rendition as provided by the Organization.

• Do NOT use or register a domain name with any Org Marks.
  Your domain names may not include any Org Marks or other words that are confusingly similar to an Org Mark. Examples of unacceptable domains include:

❌ openedx.yourdomain.org

❌ openedxyourdomain.org

❌ yourdomain-openedx.com

• Do NOT use any Org Marks as your own.
  You may not use, incorporate, combine, or register in whole or in part any Org Mark – or any word or design that is confusingly similar to an Org Mark – as part of (or with) your own company names, trade names, trademarks, service marks, or logos; your product or service brand names or titles for sales reps or other staff; your internet keywords or metatags; or your trigger words to lead to a website or other Internet destination, product, business, or service.

• Do NOT imply any Organization endorsement or sponsorship.
  Without the express prior written consent of the Organization, you may not use any Org Marks to imply an affiliation with the Organization or any approval, sponsorship, or endorsement by the Organization of your company, website, products, or services.

• Do NOT use Org Marks in any way that damages the Organization.
  You may not use Org Marks in a manner that disparages the Organization, its products or services, or the Open edX community or damages the Organization’s brand integrity, including use of any Org Marks in a manner that is offensive, defamatory, illegal, or unethical.

The above specifications are not a comprehensive list of approved or unauthorized uses of Org Marks. If the Organization determines at any time, in its sole discretion, that your use of any Org Mark violates this Policy, any trademark guidelines or is otherwise unacceptable or detrimental, the Organization may revoke permission, and you must immediately cease all use of the Org Mark.

TRADEMARK GUIDELINES

Open edX^® Trademark Guidelines PDF

MicroMasters^® Trademark Guidelines PDF 

MicroBachelors^® Trademark Guidelines PDF

APPROVED LOGO RENDITIONS

• Color PNG for Open edX logo
• Color EPS for Open edX logo
• White PNG for Open edX logo
• White EPS for Open edX logo