---
title: Inspec - Trademark Policy
---

h1 Chef Trademark Policy
p
  small June 16, 2016

h4
  u INTRODUCTION
p This document outlines the policy of Chef Software Inc. ("Chef") regarding the use of Chef trademarks and/or logos, including without limitation Chef's Open Source Projects, such as for example, Habitat, InSpec and Server ("Chef Marks"). Any use of any Chef Mark must be in accordance with this policy or a separate license agreement.  Any use that does not comply with this policy or does not have written authorization from Chef is not authorized. Any goodwill generated by the use of any Chef Marks will be for the benefit of Chef.  This Trademark Policy ("Policy") attempts to balance two competing interests: Chef's need to ensure that the Chef Marks remain reliable indicators of quality, source, and security; and Chef's desire to permit community members, contributors, software users and distributors, and others to discuss the Chef products and to accurately describe their affiliation with Chef.  Striking a proper balance is a complex situation that many organizations - in particular those whose products are distributed electronically - wrestle with every day and Chef has attempted to balance it here. Chef protects its Chef Marks on behalf and for the benefit of the entire community. The law obligates trademark owners to police their marks and prevent the use of confusingly similar names by third parties. If you have questions about this Policy, please contact the Chef marketing team at <a href="mailto:marketing@chef.io">marketing@chef.io</a>.

p Underlying this Policy is the general law of trademarks. Trademarks exist to help consumers identify, and organizations publicize, the source of products.  Someone's trust in the Chef name and products is crucial to us.  Particularly in connection with intangible products like software, trust is all consumers have to decide on which product to choose.  Chef also caretakes and curates the trust of the Chef community.   This Policy seeks to protect both the public's and the Chef community's trust in the Chef Marks.

p In addition, Chef may receive reports about websites or companies using the Chef Marks to promote other products and services, or using modified versions of the Chef Marks. The problem with these activities is that they may be deceptive, harm users, cause consumer confusion, or jeopardize the identity and meaning of the Chef Marks. Such cases range from good intentions but improper use of the trademarks, to people intentionally trading on the Chef brand for their own benefit and/or to distribute modified versions of the product, to a clear intent to deceive, manipulate and steal from users in a highly organized and syndicated fashion. When Chef receives reports of such activities, or identifies problematic activities, Chef analyzes the reports and treats each case individually based on the intent and severity of the matter.
 In creating this Policy, Chef seeks to clarify legitimate uses of the Chef Marks.  Although this Policy is composed of a number of specific examples, most reflect the fundamental requirement that<u> your use of the Chef Marks be non-confusing and non-disparaging.</u> "Non-confusing" means people should always know with whom they are dealing and where the software originates.  Websites, software and other services that are not officially maintained or supported by Chef should not imply, either directly or by omission, that they are. These basic requirements can serve as a guide as you work your way through the Policy.

p This Policy, prepared by Chef, sets out rules for proper use of the Chef Marks. Some, but not all, Chef Marks include the following:
ul
  li Chef and Chef Logo
  li Inspec and Inspec Logo
  li Compliance at Velocity
  li CODE CAN
  li RULE THE CLOUD
  li POWERED BY CHEF
p Chef may update its Chef Marks from time to time and without prior notice. If you ever have any questions about a Chef Mark, please contact Chef at <a href="mailto:marketing@chef.io">marketing@chef.io</a>.
 Approved Chef logos can be downloaded here: <a href="http://style.chef.io/branding/">http://style.chef.io/branding/</a>
p This Policy applies to all uses of the Chef Marks, in text and logo form, whether or not identified above.
h4
  u OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF THE CHEF TRADEMARK POLICY
p The objective of this Policy is to ensure that the Chef Marks remain reliable indicators of source and quality and that they are protected from inappropriate and unauthorized use. This Policy explains when and how you may use the Chef Marks without written authorization and, conversely, when written permission from Chef is required. Chef reserves the right to review all usage of the Chef Marks and to terminate use of the Chef Marks by any party for non-compliance with this Policy or written authorization. Chef may change this Policy at its sole discretion at any time effective immediately upon being published at https://www.chef.io/trademark-policy/ .
h4
  u AUTHORIZED USE OF CHEF MARKS
ul
  li
    u SUMMARY
    ul
      li AS A GENERAL RULE, THE CHEF MARKS MAY NOT BE USED IN ANY MANNER OTHER THAN EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED IN A WRITTEN AGREEMENT SIGNED BY A DULY AUTHORIZED CHEF REPRESENTATIVE OR AS EXPRESSLY PERMITTED BY THIS POLICY.

      li You must use a Chef Mark in accordance with this Policy. To the extent any part of this Policy conflicts or is inconsistent with any part of a written agreement between you and Chef, the written agreement shall control. No other rights of any kind are granted hereunder by implication or otherwise.
<br/>You must obtain written permission from Chef to use the Chef Marks for any use, including but not limited to; (i) merchandising purposes (e.g. T-shirts, mugs); (ii) on or in relation to a software product that includes or is built on top of any Chef product, including Chef's open source projects; or (iii) in an attention-getting or branding manner. Without the express prior written consent of Chef, no Chef Marks may be used in a manner that implies an affiliation with, approval by, endorsement of or sponsorship by Chef.
  li
    u GENERAL GUIDELINES
    ul
      li You may use of the Chef Marks, without a license, provided such use complies with the following requirements: (i) the Chef Mark is used only to refer to the Chef project and/or technology; (ii) the Chef Mark is not used as part of your product, brand, domain, URL, or service name; (iii) the Chef Mark appears less prominent than your company or product name; (iv) the reference to Chef does not create a sense of endorsement, sponsorship, or ownership by Chef; and/or (v) Your use of the Chef Mark is necessary to fully describe your services or products and is limited to as much of the Chef Mark as is necessary for such identification ("Nominative Use").  ALL OTHER USES OF THE CHEF MARK, INCLUDING LOGOS, REQUIRE A WRITTEN LICENSE AGREEMENT.
  li
    u SPECIFIC USE CASES
    ul
      li USE WITH OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE:  We release open source code under the Apache 2.0 license, which permits third parties to copy and redistribute the underlying software under the terms of the license.  However, the Apache 2.0 license does not provide any license or right to use any of the Chef Marks.  You may redistribute the applicable Chef open source software under the terms of the Apache 2.0 license, but You may not use the Chef Marks in doing so without express written permission from Chef or as expressly permitted in this Policy.
      li PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS:  Third parties may use the Chef Marks in publications, such as books or magazines, or in connection with the presentations and publications that are displayed to the public (collectively, "Publications"), provided that: (i) such use is referential only: You are simply referring to Chef and its products; (ii) Your name or mark and logo shall appear in a prominent location on the cover or the title page of the Publication and shall be featured with greater prominence than the Chef Mark; (iii) You do not apply to register or register any term comprised or consisting of in whole or in part the Chef Mark, or any confusingly similar mark as trademarks, service marks, corporate names, trade names or domain names, Internet keywords, metatags, or trigger words to lead to a website or other Internet destination; (iv) You do not alter or change any Chef Mark or logo; (v) You comply with this Policy and usage guidelines; (vi) You attribute the Chef Marks with the proper symbol and footnote it on all Publications, webpages, announcements, or anywhere you might use the term.
      li TRADEMARK NOTICE SYMBOL:  When using the Chef Marks, you must use the appropriate trademark symbol (either ™ or ®) as a notice to third parties of our rights to the Chef Mark. A trademark notice symbol must be used in connection with the first and most prominent usage of a mark (e.g. "Chef™"). A Chef Logo must always appear with the TM notice in every use.
      li ATTRIBUTION STATEMENT: You must acknowledge the rights of Chef in the Chef Marks and agree not to register or seek to register any Chef Marks in any country.  All uses of Chef Marks must identify the Marks as being trademarks of Chef with our standard trademark attribution statement. The following statement must be used in all materials using the Chef Marks, including but not limited to websites, publications, splash screens, screenshots or in documentation or source code: "The Chef™ Mark and Chef Logo are either registered trademarks/service marks or trademarks/ service marks of Chef, in the United States and other countries and are used with Chef Software Inc.'s permission. We are not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Chef Software Inc." While you may scale the size to suit your needs, you may not modify any of the Chef logos in any other way (such as by changing the design or color or the relative proportions of the elements which comprise the logo). When using Chef Marks, you will never vary the spelling, hyphenation or spacing of the any portion of the marks. You will never use a Chef Mark as a verb or noun or in possessive or plural form. (This is just good form.)
      li DOMAIN NAMES AND URLs:  You may not use Chef Marks in your own domain names or URLs in a way that would likely to confuse a relevant consumer about the source of software or services provided through your website without written approval from Chef.
      li PRODUCTS AND SERVICES RELATED TO CHEF SOFTWARE:  If you offer products or services related to Chef Marks, you may use the Chef Marks in describing and advertising your product so long as you don't mislead customers into thinking that either your website, service, or product is a Chef website, service, or product, or that Chef has any direct relationship with your organization. For example: "FooCo Management Dashboard for Chef Inspec" is okay.   "FooCo Chef" is not okay, nor is "FooCo Chef Automate Dashboard".  In addition, your website may not copy the look and feel of any Chef website. Again, Chef does not want the visitor to your website to be confused with whom she/he is dealing. When in doubt, err on the side of providing more, rather than less, explanation and information.
      li MARKS AND MERCHANDISE:  You must obtain prior written approval from Chef to use the Chef Marks in any merchandise. In general, permission to use a Chef Mark may be granted for those wishing to create merchandise that promotes Chef and the Chef community. Permission will typically be denied to merchandise that would detract, disparage, or insult Chef or the Chef community. (We hope this comes as no surprise.)
      li MODIFICATIONS:  There is one additional broad category of things you can't do with the Chef Marks - produce modified versions of them. A modified mark also would raise the possibility of consumer confusion, thus violating Chef trademark rights (remember the overarching requirement that any use of a Chef Mark be non-confusing?).
h4
  u UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE CHEF MARKS
p Unauthorized use of the Chef Marks or marks that are confusingly similar may constitute an infringement of Chef trademark rights and are strictly prohibited.  The following are examples of unauthorized uses of the Chef Marks or company name "Chef Software":

ul
  li
    u Use of Chef Marks in connection with third party marks:
    |  Use of the Chef Marks in connection with or as part of company names, trademarks or logos is not allowed. Do not hyphenate Chef with your product name to create a new product name. You may not use or register, in whole or in part, Chef, Chef logos or any other Chef trademarks, including Chef -owned graphic symbols, icons or any alteration thereof, as part of your trademark, service mark, company name, trade name, product name or service name. You may not incorporate the Chef Marks into the name or logo of your website, domain name, Internet keywords, metatags, or trigger words to lead to a website or other Internet destination, product, business or service.
  li
    u Incorporation of all or a portion of a Chef Mark into a domain name:
    |  You may not register a domain name or use a registered domain name that includes a Chef, or any marks that are phonetically equivalent to or confusingly similar to the Chef Marks.

  li
    u Damaging Use:
    |  Use of the Chef Marks or any other Chef-owned graphic, symbol or logo in a manner that disparages Chef, the Chef project and community or its technology or damages the brand integrity, including use of the Chef Marks in a manner that is, in the opinion of Chef, offensive, defamatory, illegal or unethical.
  li
    u Confusingly similar marks:
    |  You may not use trademarks, logos or other content that is confusingly similar to the Chef Marks, Chef-owned graphics, symbols or any logos ("Chef Brand Assets").
  li
    u Variations or abbreviations or combinations with any other marks:
    |  You may not use variations, foreign language equivalent or abbreviation of the Chef Marks for any purpose.
  li
    u Endorsement or Sponsorship:
    |  You may not use Chef Marks to imply approval, sponsorship, endorsement or affiliation of your company, website, products or services by Chef or the Chef project.
p Please note that the preceding examples are illustrative rather than an exhaustive list of types of unauthorized uses of the Chef Marks. All rights not explicitly granted in this Policy are expressly reserved by Chef.
h4
  u QUESTIONS AND REPORTING MISUSE OF THE CHEF MARKS
p If You wish to obtain Chef permission for any uses above or for any other use which is not specifically addressed in this Policy or You became aware of unauthorized use of the Chef Marks, please contact <a href="mailto:marketing@chef.io">marketing@chef.io</a>. Please note that permission will only be granted under certain conditions and/or subject to You entering into an agreement with Chef to maintain the quality of the products and or services You offer.

p Chef reserves the right to revoke the authorization at any time in its sole discretion. If Chef determines that Your use of a Chef Mark does not truthfully and accurately identify the inclusion of the applicable Chef technology or Your use is otherwise unacceptable or detrimental to Chef or outside the scope of this Policy or an applicable license, Chef will revoke the authorization. Upon revocation of the authorization You agree that You will immediately cease all use of the applicable Chef Mark.
h4
  u ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
p
  strong Nothing in this Trademark Policy shall be interpreted to allow any third party to claim any association with Chef or to imply any approval or support by Chef for any third party products or services.

p
  strong You acknowledge and agree that Chef is the sole and exclusive owner of the Chef Marks and agree that You will do nothing inconsistent with such ownership either during the term of such use or afterwards. You agree that you will not acquire any rights in the Chef Marks and that any goodwill generated by your use of the Chef Marks inures solely to the benefit of Chef. You also agree that "Chef" is not descriptive or generic and you agree not to challenge Chef's rights in the Chef Marks, including but not limited to its trademark applications and registrations, on any grounds. You also ensure that Your use of the Chef Marks does not create any confusion as to the source of Your products, services and activities and those of the Chef community or Chef.  You agree not to challenge Chef's rights in the Chef Marks, including but not limited to its trademark applications and registrations, on any grounds.
p
  strong Thank you for caring about the Chef brand!