A bitter feud between WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and web hosting service WP Engine has escalated into a federal lawsuit. WP Engine is suing Mullenweg and his company Automattic, alleging “abuse of power, extortion, and greed” in a dispute over the WordPress trademark.
The conflict began in September when Mullenweg publicly criticized WP Engine, calling it a “cancer to WordPress” and accusing the company of confusing customers into thinking it was part of WordPress. He also claimed that WP Engine was disabling certain features to save money.
WP Engine responded with a cease-and-desist letter, arguing that its use of the WordPress trademark was protected under fair use. However, Mullenweg allegedly threatened to take a “scorched earth nuclear approach” against WP Engine unless it agreed to pay a significant percentage of its revenue for a license to the WordPress trademark.
The dispute intensified when the WordPress Foundation updated its Trademark Policy page, accusing WP Engine of failing to donate to the open-source arm of the foundation despite generating billions of dollars in revenue from WordPress. Mullenweg also blocked WP Engine’s access to certain resources, including plug-ins and themes, which allegedly caused problems for the 200,000 websites powered by WP Engine.
WP Engine developed a workaround to restore access to the blocked resources, but the company has now taken its complaints to court. The lawsuit accuses Mullenweg and Automattic of libel, slander, and violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, among other charges. WP Engine also alleges that Mullenweg demanded an 8% royalty on the company’s monthly revenue.
In a statement, WP Engine said that Mullenweg’s actions had exposed “significant conflicts of interest and governance issues” that threatened the trust of the WordPress community. The company claimed it had “no choice” but to pursue the lawsuit to protect its customers, partners, and employees. Mullenweg and Automattic have yet to respond to the lawsuit.
