WP Engine vs. Automattic: The Battle for WordPress Heats Up

WP Engine has dispatched a letter to Automattic’s CEO, Matt Mullenweg, demanding he “cease defamation.” The cause of this action arises from alleged false accusations directed at WP Engine by Mullenweg, along with a demand to pay tens of millions of dollars for the use of the WordPress trademark.

According to WP Engine’s statement, the head of Automattic called the company “a cancerous tumor” and threatened to harm it should it refuse to make an annual payment of an enormous sum for a license to use the WordPress brand.

Meanwhile, WP Engine emphasizes that it is not obliged to acquire a license, asserting that its use of the trademark falls under the category of “fair use.”

WP Engine claims that prior to his speech at the WordCamp US conference, Mullenweg declared his intention to employ “a hardline strategy against the company” if it did not meet his demands. Moreover, the Automattic CEO alleges that WP Engine capitalizes on WordPress without making significant contributions to the community’s development.

Mullenweg publicly denounced WP Engine, stating that the company earns around half a billion dollars based on WordPress, yet its participation in supporting the system’s development is minimal. In his opinion, WP Engine’s disabling of the revision history feature by default demonstrates a disregard for the importance of user data.

In response to the accusations, WP Engine demands an end to such statements and insists there is no need for licensing. According to the letter, the company has the right to use the trademark based on the WordPress Foundation’s policy.

Furthermore, WP Engine hints at possible legal actions against Automattic related to unfair competition, although no specific lawsuits had been filed at the time of publication.

Automattic, in turn, has sent a counter-letter and issued a separate statement demanding that WP Engine cease using the trademarks and prepare documents for potential legal proceedings.