Web hosting company WP Engine has filed an amended complaint with new eyebrow-raising allegations in its ongoing legal battle with WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and his company Automattic (the parent company of WordPress.com). The company is now alleging that Mullenweg intended to target 10 different hosting companies with royalty payments for use of the WordPress trademark and tried to force payment processor Stripe to terminate its contract with WP Engine.
Mullenweg, who is at the center of the controversy, believes WP Engine is profiting from the open source WordPress project without contributing to the community, and has demanded that the hosting company pay him 8% of its gross monthly revenue for WordPress brand usage.
The lawsuit was originally filed by WP Engine in October 2024, accusing Automattic and Mullenweg of defamation and abuse of power. Automattic filed a countersuit last year, accusing the hosting company of misusing the WordPress trademark and conducting deceptive marketing practices.
In this latest filing, WP Engine amended its complaint for the third time after gaining access to information revealed during the discovery process. This information is currently unredacted, but was previously sealed at Automattic’s request.
Notably, one of the new claims accuses Automattic of planning to target 10 other competitors with royalty claims similar to those targeted at WP Engine.
The complaint also states that Newfold, whose portfolio includes hosting providers such as Bluehost and HostGator, has already paid trademark royalties to Automattic, and that Automattic is in discussions with other companies. (The names of the other hosts are redacted in the complaint, which refers to email conversations between those companies and Mullenweg.)
WP Engine also alleges that Mullenweg contacted Stripe executives via email to pressure them to terminate their contract with WP Engine. According to the complaint, this happened after WP Engine filed a lawsuit against Automattic.
The application also challenges the 8% rate for royalty payments as somewhat arbitrary. Referring to Mullenweg’s comments at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, WP Engine claims that Automattic’s founders essentially came up with this rate as a rate that WP Engine thought it could “afford to pay.”
At Disrupt, Mullenweg responded to a question about how he determined the 8% fee, saying it was based on “business analysis.”
“Even if we estimate it to be around $32 million, it will be free cash flow positive and we felt that was a reasonable amount based on our estimates and negotiations over the past 18 months,” he said at the event.
Other new claims in the filing point to offensive language Mullenweg allegedly used against WP Engine, including a threat that web hosting providers would start stealing customers if they didn’t comply. For example, one quote taken from Automattic’s internal communications was, “If they don’t take the carrot, we’ll give them the stick.”
The complaint also includes allegations that Mullenweg used the term “nuclear war” to describe his approach to the WP Engine rebellion.
Asked about the new filing, Automattic shared the following statement to TechCrunch: “There’s nothing new here. This is the same story that WP Engine has been arguing for over a year, and courts have already rejected many of its central claims. The lawsuit isn’t going anywhere. This latest filing just repackages the same tired arguments to keep the story alive. WP Engine Engine is trying to recast fierce competition as something sinister, and we are confident that courts will continue to reject that theory.”
Updated after Automattic’s statement.
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