WP Engine web hosting service WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg is suing and his company Automattic. This comes after a public WordPress trademark case. The federal lawsuit accuses Mullenweg of “abuse of power, extortion and greed.”
This is the latest volley in the ongoing battle between WordPress and WP Engine, but it calls for it a little background. WordPress is the backend that powers a large portion of the internet, about 40 percent of websites. Users can build a website from scratch using WordPress or opt for an easier plug-and-play solution offered by third-party providers such as WP Engine.
Mullenweg, who runs his own provider called Automattic, began vocally criticizing WP Engine in September. a “Cancer for WordPress.” According to him, the name of the third-party provider confused customers that it was actually part of WordPress. He also accused WP Engine of disabling certain features to save money.
WP Engine responded with a cease and desist letter and a request to retract the above comments, according to a report by TechCrunch. He also said that using the WordPress trademark is legal under fair use. It then claimed that Mullenweg threatened a “scorched earth nuclear approach” against WP Engine unless it agreed to pay “a significant portion of its revenue for licensing the WordPress trademark”.
After that, the WordPress Foundation Changed the Trademark Policy page and accused WP Engine of “never” donating to the foundation’s open source arm, “despite the fact that it makes billions off WordPress.” He went so far as to suggest that WP Engine cover up trademark abuse by editing websites.
Some of the crazy changes @wpengine including editing unauthorized customer offers to their site to hide trademark abuse!
I confirmed with @pcrumm did not approve this change. Journalists should ask WPE and others about this. pic.twitter.com/NQOZ0TPDDT
— Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) October 3, 2024
Mullenweg also banned WP Engine from accessing certain resources, such as some plugins and themes. WP Engine powers over 200,000 websites, and this move is alleged to have broken many of them. In response, the company He wrote that Mullenweg “This unprecedented and unwarranted action disrupts the normal functioning of the entire WordPress ecosystem, affecting not only WP Engine and our customers.”
Matt Mullenweg and Automattic’s scorched earth campaign against WP Engine has not only hurt our company, but the entire WordPress ecosystem. A symbiotic relationship between WordPress, its community, and the businesses that invest millions to support WordPress…
— WP Engine (@wpengine) October 3, 2024
On October 1st, WP Engine announced that it was developing its own solution that would allow consumers to access all missing themes and plugins. That’s followed by today’s lawsuit, which accuses Mullenweg of demanding eight percent of the company’s monthly revenue as royalty payments. The lawsuit also alleges that Mullenweg and Automattic engaged in libel, defamation, violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and IRS fraud.
“Matt Mullenweg’s conduct over the past ten days has exposed significant conflicts of interest and governance issues that, if left unchecked, threaten to destroy this trust,” WP Engine said in a statement. “WP Engine has no choice but to pursue these claims to protect its employees, agency partners, customers, and the broader WordPress community.” Mullenweg and Automattic have yet to respond to today’s developments.
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