Legal Info

One of HolacracyOne’s functions is to maintain the integrity of the Holacracy brand and the quality of any professional offerings in the world which are tied to that brand.  All too often, promising methods that include significant novelty have their message or uniqueness “watered down” in the world by those who lack the expertise to represent it with integrity, even if unintentionally.  When this integrity is protected and a brand identity maintained, this also enables those consuming product, service, or training offerings to trust they’re getting a level of quality true to what those who created the brand can provide.  This consumer protection is the original intent and primary goal of trademark law.

To this end, Holacracy™ is a trademark of HolacracyOne LLC (as are other related marks), and most of our content is copyrighted – although much of our copyrighted content is released under a Creative Commons license (see each document for specific copyright details).  HolacracyOne seeks to protect the integrity of these marks and materials, and the quality they represent.  We do not seek to restrict people from practicing or adopting the Holacracy operating system, nor to restrict people from talking about or sharing Holacracy with colleagues, and trademarks do not create such rights anyway.  Our trademark does prevent people from marketing or selling certain products, services, and trainings using the Holacracy trademark unless they have a license to do so.  HolacracyOne offers such licenses through a Licensing Program, which allows other firms to market and sell Holacracy offerings as long as they meet certain quality and integrity standards. 

What you can do:

• Practice Holacracy methods in your organization, and say you’re doing so
• Help your organization adopt or practice Holacracy, and say you’re doing so 
• Talk about Holacracy with your colleagues and friends
• Reference the Holacracy Operating System as a method pioneered or promoted by HolacracyOne
• Blog or write about Holacracy and share your thoughts about it with the world; and you do not need to include the ™ on Holacracy when you do so (unless you are in our licensing program and are using the mark to market or sell your services)
• Give a talk about your experiences with Holacracy methods, as long as you don’t charge for it
• Help another organization practice Holacracy methods, as long as you do so on a volunteer (unpaid) basis without marketing yourself as a provider of Holacracy services
• Share and distribute any materials, articles, recordings, etc. which HolacracyOne has released under a Creative Commons license, aligned with the terms of that license

What you can’t do (without permission):

• Use the Holacracy brand to market or sell your own products, services, or trainings
• Market yourself as a provider of Holacracy implementation, coaching, or support services
• Market and sell registrations for your own Holacracy trainings or workshops
• Offer, sell, or provide Holacracy services to your clients (although we’d love for you to talk about Holacracy and refer them to us or to one of our Licensed Providers!)
• Distribute or use HolacracyOne copyrighted materials which are not released under a Creative Commons license, or beyond the terms of that license (see each document for details) 

Want to get permission?

HolacracyOne offers a licensing program for professional firms who wish to do everything above, such as market and sell Holacracy products, services, or trainings.  HolacracyOne offers a comprehensive program to help and support such firms in doing so with quality and integrity – contact us for details. 

Need help or have questions about usage?

Contact us – we’re happy to help. 

Find a violation?

Do you see something that looks like a violation of these rules?  We'd appreciate hearing from you, just contact us to report it - and thanks for taking the time!  If what you see is from one of our Licensed Holacracy Providers, all is well - they are qualified and authorized to market and sell Holacracy services.  If you see an organization that's not listed there doing that, it's likely a violation of the trademark; if you let us know, we'll direct them to this webpage and ask them nicely but firmly to stop.