WP Engine Gets Legal Victory Over WordPress Parent Company

WP Engine has won a preliminary injunction against Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com.

On December 10, 2024, a California District Court judge ordered Automattic to stop blocking WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org resources and interfering with its plugins.

WP Engine, a third-party WordPress hosting service, filed a lawsuit accusing Automattic and CEO Matt Mullenweg of causing “irreparable harm.”

The lawsuit also asked the court to stop Automattic from restricting WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org.

In September, Mullenweg publicly criticized WP Engine, accusing the company of misusing the WordPress trademark and not contributing enough to the WordPress community.

Automattic then blocked WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org servers and took control of WP Engine’s ACF Plugin.

Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that WP Engine showed its claims were valid, stating that Automattic’s actions had harmed business relationships and disrupted WP Engine’s operations.

The judge dismissed Automattic’s defense, which argued WP Engine had no right to rely on WordPress.org for its business.

The ruling also ordered Automattic to remove a site that tracked outgoing WP Engine customers and a checkbox requiring WordPress users to confirm they are not affiliated with WP Engine when logging in.