As many of you know, the Rust language trademark policy has been the subject of an extended revision process dating back to 2022. In 2023, the Rust Foundation released an updated draft of the policy for input following an initial survey about community trademark priorities from the previous year along with review by other key stakeholders, such as the Project Directors. Many members of our community were concerned about this initial draft and shared their thoughts through the feedback form. Since then, the Rust Foundation has continued to engage with the Project Directors, the Leadership Council, and the wider Rust project (primarily via all@) for guidance on how to best incorporate as much feedback as possible.

After extensive discussion, we are happy to circulate an updated draft with the wider community today for final feedback. An effective trademark policy for an open source community should reflect our collective priorities while remaining legally sound. While the revised trademark policy cannot perfectly address every individual perspective on this important topic, its goal is to establish a framework to help guide appropriate use of the Rust trademark and reflect as many common values and interests as possible. In short, this policy is designed to steer our community toward a shared objective: to maintain and protect the integrity of the Rust programming language.

The Leadership Council is confident that this updated version of the policy has addressed the prevailing concerns about the initial draft and honors the variety of voices that have contributed to its development. Thank you to those who took the time to submit well-considered feedback for the initial draft last year or who otherwise participated in this long-running process to update our policy to continue to satisfy our goals.

Please review the updated Rust trademark policy here, and share any critical concerns you might have via this form by November 20, 2024. The Foundation has also published a blog post which goes into more detail on the changes made so far. The Leadership Council and Project Directors look forward to reviewing concerns raised and approving any final revisions prior to an official update of the policy later this year.