XBMC Changes Name to Kodi, Reduces Trademark Confusion

It's a fair argument: If the name of one's application, Xbox Media Center, seems to suggest that the app runs on one's Xbox gaming consoles—which it doesn't really do right now—then perhaps it's time for a rebranding?

At least, that's one of the reasons why the app formerly known as Xbox Media Center, or XBMC, is now changing its name to Kodi. However, we should clarify. While the app still does run on one's original Xbox console, it hasn't run on the Xbox 360 or its successor, the Xbox One, in any capacity.

"Furthermore, while the software still acts as a media center, it also hosts addons, loads games, streams content to and from numerous devices, and can ultimately act as a complete replacement for whatever platform it is hosted on. Indeed, XBMC today is far more an Entertainment Center than a simple Media Center," reads a blog post by Kodi community/project manager Nathan Betzen.

"In essence both the 'XB' and 'MC' simply don't make a whole lot of sense any more."

Additionally, by not owning the trademark to the original name—given that it was based off the name "Xbox"—the developers of that-which-was-formerly-known-as-XBMC had no legal authority to go after derivative products using XBMC's name. They also had no way to prevent those with a legal trademark to part of their name from going after them.

"In the past few years, we have seen the mass confusion that resulted from this lack of control first hand. Users have been fooled into wasting money buying boxes running hacked and typically broken versions of XBMC. News sites and blogs have gotten caught in confusing language numerous times. Unrelated fan communities, often founded under the best of intentions, have found themselves under attack, simply because no guidelines existed to simplify the process of clearly distinguishing themselves from the XBMC Foundation." Betzen writes.

"What's more, the Foundation itself and all of its developers have always operated under a potential legal threat from other companies that did have a legal trademark in a similar name. And that legal threat has actually gotten more problematic in recent years."

The move to the new Kodi branding shouldn't affect use of the app at all, save for the obvious changing of the splash screen that announces the app's title. The next version of the app will be Kodi 14, not XBMC 14. More importantly, those looking to make fan sites in tribute to Kodi will now have a clearer definition of just what "confusing" means in regards to use of the Kodi name—specifically, that a site can do that so long as its use "doesn't confuse other users and the community."

In the meantime, Kodi's developers are working on changing over the app's branding across all the different areas they need to, in addition to running Kodi's trademark policies through a legal review. They also have to finish the Kodi logo itself, which is currently a work in progress by doghousemedia.

"Needless to say, the upcoming Kodi developers conference this year is certainly going to be intense as we work through these issues. But we believe that with your support and the support of the whole community, Kodi, the media center or entertainment platform or whatever you choose to call it that we've all come to love will be even stronger than it was before," Betzen writes.