Amended Complaint And New Allegations
Web hosting company WP Engine has filed an amended complaint in its lawsuit against WordPress co founder Matt Mullenweg and Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, adding new allegations drawn from information obtained during discovery. The company says Mullenweg planned to seek royalty payments from 10 hosting companies for use of the WordPress trademark and attempted to pressure payment processor Stripe to cancel its contract with WP Engine. The newly unredacted material had previously been sealed at Automattic’s request, and this marks the third time WP Engine has amended its complaint.
Background Of The Dispute
The case centers on a disagreement over how companies that build businesses on WordPress should contribute to the project and use its trademarks. Mullenweg has said WP Engine profits from the open source project without giving enough back and demanded that the company pay a royalty equal to 8% of its monthly gross revenue for use of the WordPress brand. WP Engine filed the lawsuit in October 2024, accusing Automattic and Mullenweg of defamation and abuse of power. Automattic later filed counterclaims, saying WP Engine abused the WordPress trademark and engaged in deceptive marketing.
Claims About Targeting Other Hosts
In the new filing, WP Engine says Automattic planned to pursue similar royalty demands against 10 other hosting providers. The complaint states that Newfold, which owns brands including Bluehost and HostGator, is already paying Automattic for trademark use and that Automattic has held discussions with other hosts. The names of those companies are redacted in the court filing, which cites internal email exchanges involving Mullenweg.
Allegation Involving Stripe
WP Engine also alleges that Mullenweg contacted a Stripe executive by email after the lawsuit was filed and urged the company to cancel WP Engine’s payment processing agreement. The complaint presents this as part of a broader effort to apply pressure during the dispute.
Dispute Over The 8% Royalty Rate
The amended complaint challenges the basis for the 8% royalty figure and describes it as arbitrary. WP Engine points to comments Mullenweg made at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, where he said the number came from a business analysis and that a payment of about $32 million would still leave the company free cash flow positive. The filing says Mullenweg also indicated the figure reflected what he believed WP Engine could afford.
Language Cited From Internal Communications
The complaint includes references to internal messages that WP Engine says show an aggressive posture toward the company. It cites statements such as “If they don’t take the carrot, we’ll give them the stick,” and says Mullenweg used the phrase “nuclear war” to describe his approach to WP Engine’s resistance.
Automattic’s Response
Automattic said in a statement to TechCrunch that the amended filing does not introduce new issues and repeats arguments the company says the court has already rejected. The company said the case repackages earlier claims and described the lawsuit as an attempt to portray normal competition as improper. Automattic said it remains confident the courts will continue to dismiss the claims.
Featured image credits: Flickr
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