WP Engine Sends Cease-and-Desist Letter to Automattic over Mullenweg’s “Cancer” Comments

• Hosting service WP Engine has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic for the derogatory comments its CEO Matt Mullenweg made against the company.
• These remarks were apparently made because Mullenweg was blackmailing WP Engine to pay him a licensing fee and it refused to comply.
• The letter demands that he stop making such false statements and retract the ones he has made so far - and if he doesn't, WP Engine will take legal action against him.
• In response, Matt Mullenweg and Automattic have initiated legal action against WP Engine for the unauthorized use of intellectual property.

On Monday, popular hosting service WP Engine sent a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic after its CEO and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg called the service a cancer to WordPress" last week.

The news comes from WP Engine itself, as it posted on X. The letter demands Mullenweg +stop the dissemination of false information and retract the derogatory statements he has already made.What Did Mullenweg Say?

Mullenweg made the comment at the WordCamp US Summit 2024, criticizing WP Engine for exploiting WordPress and profiting off it without giving back.

This allegation has been refuted by the WP Engine, which said that it has invested millions of dollars on sponsorships, events, and creating educational resources.

Another accusation came through one of Mullenweg's blog posts, where he claimed that WP Engine is offering a cheap knock-off version" of WordPress to users.

In yet another, Mullenweg said that WP Engine was contributing only 47 hours a week in the Five for the Future" investment pledge to contribute resources toward the sustained growth of WordPress, whereas Automattic was contributing nearly 3,786 hours.

According to Mullenweg's accusation, despite both companies being the same size and generating similar revenue, WP Engine is way behind in terms of contribution.

WP Engine Denies All AccusationsWP Engine has denied all these accusations. Instead, it claimed that Mullenweg was allegedly blackmailing WP Engine and when it did not give into his demands, he started making such remarks to get revenge.

WP Engine's lawyers unveiled a few threatening emails from Mullenweg and a call between him and a WP Engine board member in which he threatened to go to war" if his demands were not met.

The demand was that WP Engine pay him tens of millions of dollars on a recurrent basis for a license to use trademarks like WordPress." However, the company feels that its use of the WordPress" trademark falls under fair use laws and is consistent with the platform's guidelines - so, there's no reason why it should be paying a separate fee.

Mullenweg said if it did not comply, he would use a scorched earth nuclear approach" toward WP Engine within the WordPress community and beyond.

So, as promised, when his demands were not met, Mullenweg followed through with his threat by making repeated false claims, badmouthing WP Engine to its customers and employees around the world.

Automattic is yet to release an official response to WP Engine's letter, but Mullenweg has confirmed that they have officially initiated legal action against WP Engine for the Unauthorized Use of WordPress Foundation and WooCommerce, Inc. Intellectual Property."

WP Engine is also highly likely to go on the offence with a lawsuit against Automattic and Mullenweg. Stay tuned to find out how this unfolds.

The post WP Engine Sends Cease-and-Desist Letter to Automattic over Mullenweg's Cancer" Comments appeared first on The Tech Report.