Dries Buytaert

This week, after almost a year of waiting, the European Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs), or OHIM, has finally approved my application for a community trademark. This means the "Drupal" word mark is now protected in all Member States of the European Union.

Previously, the Drupal name was only protected in Benelux and the United States, so this extra level of protection is a big and important step.

To help protect the Drupal name, I published the Drupal trademark policy on drupal.com in August 2009. It was created to provide guidance to people interested in using the Drupal trademark, and aims to create a level playing field for everyone in the community. Since announcing the trademark policy, we received dozens of applications. With the assistance of my attorney, we have been progressing them in batches of 20-40 at a time. We still have a backlog so stay tuned if you haven't heard back yet.

Having the Drupal name protected against abuses in both the US and the European Union is a big step forward for the project. It means that we have the necessary recognition, authority, and tools to uphold the integrity of our project. Drupal continues to grow up!