VMware Zimbra Trademark and Branding FAQ

Am I allowed to provide the Zimbra Collaboration Server, Network Edition as a hosted (or on-demand) service using the VMware Zimbra brand?
Yes, subject to the fair use guidelines below.
Am I allowed to provide the Zimbra Collaboration Server, Network Edition as a hosted (or on-demand) service under my own brand?
Yes, subject to the terms of your VMware Zimbra Network license agreement.
Am I allowed to redistribute the Zimbra Collaboration Server, Network Edition standalone or with other value-added software and/or hardware (such as a VMware Zimbra-enabled "appliance") using the VMware Zimbra brand?
Yes, subject to the fair use guidelines below.
Am I allowed to redistribute the Zimbra Collaboration Server, Network Edition standalone or with other value-added software and/or hardware (such as a VMware Zimbra-enabled "appliance") under my own brand?
Yes, subject to the terms of your VMware Zimbra Network license agreement.
Can I use "Zimbra", "VMware Zimbra," or any Zimbra product name in one of my website URLs?
No. You may not use VMware Zimbra or any other proper name associated with the VMware Zimbra offering in a URL or domain. For instance 'www.zimbrahosting.com' is not allowed. Please see use of VMware Zimbra trademarks or logos below for more information.
What constitutes an inappropriate use of the VMware Zimbra trademarks or logos?

By law and to ensure clarity for the greater VMware Zimbra Community, we must ensure that the use of the VMware Zimbra trademarks (name, logo, etc.) is subject to the following "fair use" guidelines.

Under fair use practice, you may describe your service as being based on VMware Zimbra, such as "Acme hosted email using the Zimbra Collaboration Server," but you may generally not use the VMware Zimbra name within your own branding such as "Acme VMware Zimbra hosted email." Moreover, unless you are an accredited partner within the VMware Zimbra Partner Program, you are not permitted to use any of the VMware Zimbra logos other than their appropriate occurrence within the VMware Zimbra software itself (see below).

Other examples of unauthorized use of the VMware Zimbra trademarks include:

  1. Company, product, or service name — You may not use or register, in whole or in part, VMware Zimbra, Zimlets or any other VMware Zimbra trademark, including VMware Zimbra-owned graphic symbols, logos, icons, or an alteration thereof, as or as part of a company name, trade name, product name, or service name except as specifically noted in these guidelines.
  2. Merchandise items — You may not manufacture, sell or give-away merchandise items, such as T-shirts and mugs, bearing VMware Zimbra trademark, including symbols, logos, or icons, except pursuant to an express written trademark license from VMware Zimbra.
  3. VMware Zimbra logo and VMware Zimbra-owned graphic symbols — You may not use the VMware Zimbra logo or any other VMware Zimbra-owned graphic symbol, logo, or icon on or in connection with web sites, products, packaging, manuals, promotional/advertising materials, or for any other purpose except pursuant to an express written trademark license from VMware Zimbra, such as a reseller agreement.
  4. Disparaging Manner — You may not use an VMware Zimbra trademark or any other VMware Zimbra-owned graphic symbol, logo, or icon in a disparaging manner.
  5. Variations, takeoffs or abbreviations — You may not use a variation of the VMware Zimbra logo for any purpose. Third parties cannot use a variation, phonetic equivalent, foreign language equivalent, takeoff, or abbreviation of an VMware Zimbra trademark for any purpose. For example, the following are not acceptable:
    • iZimbra
    • ZimMail
    • Cimbra
    • Simbra
  6. Endorsement or Sponsorship — You may not use VMware Zimbra logo or symbols, in a manner that would imply VMware Zimbra's affiliation with or endorsement, sponsorship, or support of a third party product or service.
  7. Slogans and taglines —You may not use or imitate an VMware Zimbra slogan or tagline.
  8. Domain Names — You may not use an identical or virtually identical VMware Zimbra trademark as a second level domain name. For example, the following are not acceptable:
    • zimlets.com
    • izimbra.com
    • zmail.com
    • zimbramail.com

Please view the above as our reasonable effort to shed some light on the esoteric subject of Trademark Law. Please do not assume that this list represents a full accounting; rather we recommend you consult a lawyer if you are in doubt.

Am I allowed to provide the Zimbra Collaboration Server, Open Source Edition as a hosted (or on-demand) service using the VMware Zimbra brand?

If you are not producing a derivative work of (that is, not making source code changes to) the Zimbra Collaboration Server (ZCS), Open Source Edition, then you are (by definition, since the software is unmodified) welcome to include the VMware Zimbra copyright notices, trademarks, and logos as they appear in the unmodified VMware Zimbra software. (Please note that we do not consider administrative configuration changes or the addition or removal of Zimlets to constitute modification to the VMware Zimbra software.)

If you are producing a derivative work (that is, making changes to the source code) of ZCS, Open Source Edition, you are bound by the terms of the VMware Zimbra open source licenses (see the VMware Zimbra Collective License and the VMware Zimbra Public License). Under the VMware Zimbra Public License (ZPL), all derivative works of the ZCS Ajax/Javascript client must carry the "VMware Zimbra Powered" logo in place of the original VMware Zimbra logo. You are generally also required to open source any derivative works of the VMware Zimbra Ajax/Javascript client if your VMware Zimbra deployment will have "external" or third party users (see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ): The ZCS web user interface (UI) is itself software---the VMware Zimbra UI is written in Javascript following the AJAX architecture. Under standard operation, VMware Zimbra client software is automatically redistributed to the Hosted Service Provider's (HSP's) or Internet Service Provider's (ISP's) enduser customer. (All derivative works of VMware Zimbra should also retain the original copyright notices.)

In either case (derivative work or original work), trademark law generally precludes you from using the VMware Zimbra trademarks or logos to promote your product or service apart from their occurrence within the software (see guidelines above).

At the same time, VMware Zimbra, Inc. does offer does offer alternative commercial licensing terms via the VMware Zimbra Partner Program through which qualifying partners can

  1. Use appropriate VMware Zimbra trademarks in promoting your value-added products or services;
  2. Advertise your value-added products or services to the VMware Zimbra Community through the VMware Zimbra website and VMware Zimbra Partner Portal;
  3. Receive approved leads and prospects from VMware Zimbra, Inc.;
  4. Waive the requirements for "VMware Zimbra Powered" UI attribution; and/or
  5. 5. Waive the requirements to publish source code of redistributed derivative works (see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ).

Commercial licenses from VMware Zimbra, Inc. have several other advantages, including additional enterprise features such as fault tolerance for business-critical deployments, product support, additional quality assurance, alerts, maintenance & feature updates, additional warranty, and so on. If you are interested, please check out the VMware Zimbra Network.

Am I allowed to provide the Zimbra Collaboration Server, Open Source Edition as a hosted (or on-demand) service under my own brand?

If you are not producing a derivative work of (that is, not making source code changes to) the Zimbra Collaboration Server, Open Source Edition, then you are (by definition, since the software is unmodified) welcome to include the VMware Zimbra copyright notices, trademarks, and logos as they appear in the unmodified VMware Zimbra software. (Please note that we do not consider administrative configuration changes or the addition or removal of Zimlets to constitute modification to the VMware Zimbra software.)

If you are producing a derivative work (that is, making changes to the source code) of ZCS, Open Source Edition, you are bound by the terms of the VMware Zimbra open source licenses. Under the VMware Zimbra Public License (ZPL), all derivative works of the ZCS Ajax/Javascript client must carry the "VMware Zimbra Powered" logo in place of the original VMware Zimbra logo but you are more then welcome to include your own brand and logo in addition to the "VMware Zimbra Powered" logo, subject again to "fair use" guidelines (see above). (All derivative works of VMware Zimbra should also retain the original copyright notices.)

VMware Zimbra, Inc. does offer does offer alternative commercial licensing terms via the VMware Zimbra Partner Program through which qualifying partners can

  1. Waive the requirements for "VMware Zimbra Powered" UI attribution;
  2. Waive the requirements to publish source code of redistributed derivative works (see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ);
  3. Use appropriate VMware Zimbra trademarks in promoting your value-added products or services;
  4. Advertise your value-added products or services to the VMware Zimbra Community through the VMware Zimbra website and VMware Zimbra Partner Portal; and/or
  5. Receive approved leads and prospects from VMware Zimbra, Inc.

Commercial licenses from VMware Zimbra, Inc. have several other advantages, including additional enterprise features such as fault tolerance for business-critical deployments, product support, additional quality assurance, alerts, maintenance & feature updates, additional warranty, and so on. If you are interested, please check out the VMware Zimbra Network.

Am I allowed to redistribute the Zimbra Collaboration Server, Open Source Edition standalone or with other value-added software and/or hardware (such as a VMware Zimbra-enabled "appliance") using the VMware Zimbra brand?

If you are not producing a derivative work of (that is, not making source code changes to) the Zimbra Collaboration Server (ZCS), Open Source Edition, then you are (by definition, since the software is unmodified) welcome to include the VMware Zimbra copyright notices, trademarks, and logos as they appear in the unmodified VMware Zimbra software.

If you are producing a derivative work (that is, making changes to the source code) of ZCS, Open Source Edition, you are bound by the terms of the VMware Zimbra open source licenses. Under the VMware Zimbra Public License (ZPL), all derivative works of the ZCS Ajax/Javascript client must carry the "VMware Zimbra Powered" logo in place of the original VMware Zimbra logo (see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ). (All derivative works of VMware Zimbra should retain the original copyright notices.)

In either case (derivative work or original work), trademark law generally precludes you from using the VMware Zimbra trademarks or logos to promote your product or service apart from their occurrence within the software (see guidelines above).

At the same time, VMware Zimbra, Inc. does offer does offer alternative commercial licensing terms via the VMware Zimbra Partner Program through which qualifying Value-Added Reseller (VAR) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partners can

  1. Use appropriate VMware Zimbra trademarks in promoting your value-added products or services;
  2. Advertise your value-added products or services to the VMware Zimbra Community through the VMware Zimbra website and VMware Zimbra Partner Portal;
  3. Receive approved leads and prospects from VMware Zimbra, Inc.;
  4. Waive the requirements for "VMware Zimbra Powered" UI attribution; and/or
  5. Waive the requirements to publish source code of redistributed derivative works (see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ).

Commercial licenses from VMware Zimbra, Inc. have several other advantages, including additional enterprise features such as fault tolerance for business-critical deployments, product support, additional quality assurance, alerts, maintenance & feature updates, additional warranty, and so on. If you are interested, please check out the VMware Zimbra Network.

Am I allowed to redistribute the Zimbra Collaboration Server, Open Source Edition standalone or with other value-added software and/or hardware (such as a VMware Zimbra-enabled "appliance") under my own brand?

If you are not producing a derivative work of (that is, not making source code changes to) the Zimbra Collaboration Server (ZCS), Open Source Edition, then you are (by definition, since the software is unmodified) including the VMware Zimbra copyright notices, trademarks, and logos as they appear in the unmodified VMware Zimbra software. (Please note that we do not consider administrative configuration changes or the addition or removal of Zimlets to constitute modification to the VMware Zimbra software.) However, you should otherwise rebrand your deployment of VMware Zimbra under whatever brand you see fit, since under trademark law you are generally not permitted to promote your ZCS deployment using the VMware Zimbra brands (see the "fair use" guidelines above).

If you are producing a derivative work (that is, making changes to the source code) of ZCS, Open Source Edition, you are bound by the terms of the VMware Zimbra open source licenses. Under the VMware Zimbra Public License (ZPL), all derivative works of the ZCS Ajax/Javascript client must carry the "VMware Zimbra Powered" logo in place of the original VMware Zimbra logo (see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ). You are generally also required to open source any derivative works of the Zimbra Collaboration Server if you redistribute VMware Zimbra code, whether in source or binary formats (please see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ). (All derivative works of VMware Zimbra should also retain the original copyright notices.)

VMware Zimbra, Inc. does offer does offer alternative commercial licensing terms via the VMware Zimbra Partner Program through which qualifying partners can

  1. Waive the requirements for "VMware Zimbra Powered" UI attribution;
  2. Waive the requirements to publish source code of redistributed derivative works (see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ);
  3. Use appropriate VMware Zimbra trademarks in promoting your value-added products or services;
  4. Advertise your value-added products or services to the VMware Zimbra Community through the VMware Zimbra website and VMware Zimbra Partner Portal; and/or
  5. Receive approved leads and prospects from VMware Zimbra, Inc.

Commercial licenses from VMware Zimbra, Inc. have several other advantages, including additional enterprise features such as fault tolerance for business-critical deployments, product support, additional quality assurance, alerts, maintenance & feature updates, additional warranty, and so on. If you are interested, please check out the VMware Zimbra Network.

Am I allowed to rebrand the Zimbra Collaboration Server (ZCS), Open Source Edition for my internal use?

If you are not producing a derivative work of (that is, not making source code changes to) the Zimbra Collaboration Server (ZCS), Open Source Edition, then you are (by definition, since the software is unmodified) including the VMware Zimbra copyright notices, trademarks, and logo's as they appear in the unmodified VMware Zimbra software.

If you are producing a derivative work (that is, making changes to the source code) of ZCS, Open Source Edition, you are bound by the terms of the VMware Zimbra open source licenses. Under the VMware Zimbra Public License (ZPL), all derivative works of the ZCS Ajax/Javascript client must carry the "VMware Zimbra Powered" logo in place of the original VMware Zimbra logo (see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ), but you are more then welcome to include your own brand and logo in addition to the "VMware Zimbra Powered" logo, subject again to "fair use" guidelines (see above). (All derivative works of VMware Zimbra should also retain the original copyright notices.) You are generally also required to open source any derivative works of the Zimbra Collaboration Server if you redistribute VMware Zimbra code, whether in source or binary formats (please see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ):

To prevent confusion about this point, our users can rely on this explanation of VMware Zimbra's policy: If changes are made to the Zimbra Collaboration Server (ZCS) client or server software that are only redistributed on an organization's intranet, open sourcing is not required even if the organization's third party contractors receive copies of downloaded client software. (You must also ensure that any recipients of a derivative work of Zimbra Collaboration Client software are also bound by the terms of the VMware Zimbra Public License (ZPL); see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ.) We do, however, interpret the ZPL to require open sourcing of derivative works if the redistribution of software is to third parties, such as would be the case, for example, with independent software vendors (ISVs), value-added resellers (VARs), hosted service providers (HSPs), internet service providers (ISPs), Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), appliance manufacturers, or alternative support channels.

(All derivative works of VMware Zimbra should also retain the original copyright notices.)

VMware Zimbra, Inc. does offer does offer alternative commercial licensing terms for the Zimbra Collaboration Server that allow you to

  1. Use appropriate VMware Zimbra trademarks in promoting your value-added products or services;
  2. Advertise your value-added products or services to the VMware Zimbra Community through the VMware Zimbra website and VMware Zimbra Partner Portal;
  3. Receive (if appropriate) approved leads and prospects from VMware Zimbra, Inc.;
  4. Waive the requirements for VMware Zimbra or "VMware Zimbra Powered" UI attribution; and/or
  5. Waive the requirements to publish source code of redistributed derivative works (see the VMware Zimbra Licensing FAQ).

Commercial licenses from VMware Zimbra, Inc. have several other advantages, including additional enterprise features such as fault tolerance for business-critical deployments, product support, additional quality assurance, alerts, maintenance & feature updates, additional warranty, and so on. If you are interested, please check out the VMware Zimbra Network.