Let’s Encrypt recently updated it’s blog about the controversy with Comodo regarding their trademark filing for “Let’s Encrypt”. Let’s Encrypt is a certificate authority (CA) that provides free digital certificates to websites and has over the past year upended the paid-for digital certificate industry that has been dominated by Symantec, GoDaddy, and to a lesser extent Comodo.
A few months ago, it was brought to their notice that Comodo is attempting to register at least three trademarks for the term “Let’s Encrypt” namely, “Let’s Encrypt”, “Comodo Let’s Encrypt”, and “Let’s Encrypt with Comodo” for a variety of CA-related services. This was however unappreciated by Let’s Encrypt and in retaliation, directly and through attorneys, they asked Comodo to abandon their applications for the same, since March 2016.
The appeals made to Comodo were refused, therefore, Let’s Encrypt was all set to defend its trademark against them. They stated, “If necessary, we will vigorously defend the Let’s Encrypt brand we’ve worked so hard to build. That said, our organization has limited resources and a protracted dispute with Comodo regarding its improper registration of our trademarks would significantly and unnecessarily distract both organizations from the core mission they should share: creating a more secure and privacy-respecting Web. We urge Comodo to do the right thing and abandon its “Let’s Encrypt” trademark applications so we can focus all of our energy on improving the Web.”
On June 24, 2016, Let’s Encrypt confirmed through it’s official blog that Comodo submitted requests expressing abandonment for all three trademark registration applications in question. They also concluded by saying, “We’re happy to see this positive step towards resolution, and will continue to monitor the requests as they make their way through the system”.
Here’s a piece from their blog.