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Automattic removes WP Fusion Lite from WordPress.com after trademark dispute

The WP Fusion Lite logo set against a blue background next to grey wavy lines.

Automattic has removed the WP Fusion Lite plugin from WordPress.com after its developer, Jack Arturo, accused the company of trademark infringement.

Automattic has removed the WP Fusion Lite plugin from WordPress.com after its developer, Jack Arturo, accused the company of trademark infringement.

Arturo, founder of Very Good Plugins and developer of WP Fusion, filed a cease and desist letter on October 12, claiming that Automattic’s use of the WP Fusion trademark on WordPress.com created confusion about its affiliation. The move comes amid ongoing tensions between Automattic and WP Engine.

WP Fusion Lite, a WordPress plugin that integrates websites with CRM systems and marketing automation tools, has more than 5,000 active installs and a 5-star rating on WordPress.org. The pro version, WP Fusion Pro, operates independently of the free version, with updates delivered directly to paying customers.

In response to Arturo’s demands, Automattic removed WP Fusion Lite from WordPress.com last week, disabled its landing page, and confirmed that it was no longer available on the platform or in search results. However, Automattic contested Arturo’s claims of infringement, citing “nominative fair use” under the law, while expressing a desire to resolve the matter “swiftly and amicably.”

In a blog post this week, Arturo said he was pleased to see the WordPress.org listing for “WP Fusion Lite” back at the top of Google search results, where users can download the plugin for free.

“It’s been a stressful week, but I’m glad we were able to resolve the situation amicably and clear up any potential confusion for our users,” he said.

The dispute has drawn attention to WordPress.com’s move last year to replicate the WordPress.org plugin repository, which led to some WordPress.com listings outranking WordPress.org in Google search results. Arturo said this caused confusion among users who had downloaded the free version of WP Fusion Lite from WordPress.com, with many mistakenly believing they had purchased it, resulting in support requests typically reserved for paying customers.

“While we knew about this for some time, I didn’t quite know what to do about it,” Arturo said, referring to WordPress.com’s plugin mirror. “I didn’t want to start a legal dispute with Automattic and possibly damage our reputation.” He said recent events made it clear he needed to defend his trademarks.

“This was a difficult decision to make, as [WordPress co-founder and Automattic CEO] Matt [Mullenweg] has been known to use the resources of WordPress.org to personally retaliate against perceived threats to Automattic,” Arturo added.

“There was a very real chance we would be removed from the free .org repository, blocked from the Make WordPress Slack, or banned from sponsoring future WordCamps (we sponsored WCAsia in 2024 and look forward to sponsoring WCEU in 2025).”

Mullenweg has previously said that WordPress.com’s mirror provides “distribution to the plugin authors, literally millions and millions of installs.”

After Arturo publicly shared his cease and desist letter, Automattic responded on X: “So, to clarify, you’d like us to hide your plugin from the ~248M registered users on @wordpressdotcom?”

Arturo said he welcomes mirrors of WP Fusion Lite by other organizations, excluding Automattic.

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