Trademark Guidelines


Pivotal has a reputation for providing high-quality products and services. Pivotal Marks are therefore some of our most valuable assets, and can only be used pursuant to (a) the Terms of Use posted at https://pivotal.io/terms-of-use, as may be updated by Pivotal from time to time (“Terms of Use”), (b) written permission from Pivotal, and (c) these Trademark Guidelines. Unless otherwise indicated, capitalized terms have the meaning stated in the Pivotal Terms of Use.

  1. Pivotal Marks Must Always be Used as Adjectives. Pivotal Marks can only be used as adjectives followed by a generic term. They can never be used as nouns or verbs. For example:
    1. Correct: PIVOTAL® application development software is popular.
    2. Incorrect: Pivotal is popular.
  2. Do Not Use Pivotal Marks in the Possessive Form. The Pivotal Marks cannot be possessive, unless the trademark itself is in possessive form. For example:
    1. Correct: We are increasing the advertising budget for PIVOTAL® products.
    2. Incorrect: We are increasing Pivotal's advertising budget.
  3. Do Not Use Pivotal Marks in the Plural Form. The Pivotal Marks cannot be used in the plural form unless the trademark itself is in plural form. For example:
    1. Correct: Customers enjoy PIVOTAL® products.
    2. Incorrect: Customers enjoy Pivotals.
  4. Pivotal Marks Must be Prominent. Pivotal Marks should be separate from surrounding text to emphasize their brand name significance. Options include:
    1. Presenting the trademark in all capital letters (for example, PIVOTAL®).
    2. Capitalizing the first letter of the trademark (for example, Pivotal).
    3. Presenting the trademark in bold, underlining, or italics (for example, Pivotal).
  5. Do Not Alter Pivotal Marks. Pivotal Marks must be used consistently and exactly as they are shown here. Do not:
    1. Abbreviate the Pivotal Marks;
    2. change the colors or typeface of the Pivotal Marks;
    3. remove, distort, or add words or design elements to the Pivotal Marks; or
    4. hyphenate the Pivotal Marks unless the Pivotal Mark itself is hyphenated.
  6. Use Proper Trademark Notice Symbols.
    1. Proper trademark notice symbols should be used with Pivotal Marks. In the US the proper symbol to use depends on whether the trademark is registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office for the specific products or services for which the mark is used.
    2. Use the ® symbol with registered Pivotal Marks but only if the Pivotal Mark is registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office and the ™ symbol for unregistered marks.
    3. The appropriate symbol should appear immediately following the Pivotal Mark, and should appear in superscript.
    4. The proper trademark symbols for trademarks used and registered in countries outside of the US are governed by the laws of those countries. Do not use the registered trademark symbol ® in countries where the particular Pivotal Mark has not been registered.
  7. Never Combine Pivotal Marks with Your Trademark/Product. Trademarks are meant to identify the source of a product, and combination with third party product names may cause a likelihood of confusion.
    1. Do not state or imply that your product is produced or authorized by Pivotal.
    2. Do not use Pivotal Marks as part of your product name: "John’s Pivotal Cloud Foundry."
  8. Do Not Use Pivotal’s Marks in an Inappropriate Manner. You may not use Pivotal Marks in connection with adult content, gambling, tobacco, alcohol, in violation of law, or in any way unauthorized by Pivotal. You may not use Pivotal Marks in a manner that is misleading, defamatory, infringing, libelous, obscene or otherwise objectionable to Pivotal.
  9. Do Not Use or Register Pivotal Marks in Domain Names, Social Media Names or Profiles.
  10. Do Not Display Pivotal Marks as the most Prominent Feature of a Website.
  11. Unless Otherwise Authorized, Do Not Use a Pivotal Marks Logo without Pivotal’s Express Written Permission.
  12. Do Not Copy Pivotal’s Trade Dress.

These Guidelines were last updated on September 1, 2017.