WordPress founders beat major lawsuit claims in federal court ruling

A federal judge in California handed WordPress leaders a major victory on September 12, 2025, throwing out the biggest accusations in a lawsuit that has shaken the website-building world. The ruling in Case No. 3:24-cv-06917-AMO dismissed serious charges including monopoly abuse and extortion against Automattic Inc. and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg.

Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that web hosting company WPEngine failed to prove its most damaging claims. The 30-page court order eliminated four antitrust violations under federal law and rejected attempted extortion charges under California state law.

"Just got word that the court dismissed several of WP Engine and Silver Lake's most serious claims — antitrust, monopolization, and extortion have been knocked out!" Mullenweg wrote on his personal blog after receiving news of the September 12 ruling. "These were by far the most significant and far-reaching allegations in the case."

The lawsuit started as a public feud that has split the WordPress community. WordPress powers more than 40% of all websites on the internet, making this legal battle important for millions of businesses and website owners worldwide.

The trouble began during WordCamp US 2024 in September when Mullenweg used his keynote speech to blast WPEngine publicly. He accused the hosting company of making $450 million per year from WordPress while only contributing about $100,000 worth of development work back to the project.

"Imagine you're running a company and you can get all of the software for free, don't spend a single dollar on it, or spend 40 hours a week, call that $100,000 a year, and you can make $450,000,000 per year off it, that'd be pretty sweet right?" Mullenweg said during his September 20, 2024 speech, according to earlier reporting from the WordPress community controversy.

The public criticism quickly turned into a legal war. Within days, both companies were sending threatening legal letters to each other. WPEngine claimed Mullenweg and his company Automattic were trying to extort millions of dollars in licensing fees. Automattic said WPEngine was stealing WordPress trademarks to make money.

The situation got worse when Mullenweg banned WPEngine from accessing WordPress.org resources on September 25, 2024. This move blocked WPEngine customers from getting important updates and plugins for their websites.

By October 2, 2024, WPEngine filed a massive federal lawsuit with 20 different claims against Automattic and Mullenweg personally. The hosting company accused them of monopoly abuse, extortion, cyber attacks, and unfair business practices.

The case got messier when court documents revealed behind-the-scenes threats. According to WPEngine's legal papers, Automattic's chief financial officer Mark Davies warned a WPEngine board member that Automattic would "go to war" if WPEngine didn't pay licensing fees. Mullenweg allegedly sent text messages threatening a "scorched earth nuclear approach" if the company didn't agree to pay tens of millions of dollars within 24 hours.

But the September 12 court ruling found that WPEngine couldn't prove the most serious charges. Judge Martínez-Olguín dismissed Count 12 and Count 13, which accused Automattic of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by creating an illegal monopoly. The court also threw out Count 4, which claimed attempted extortion under California law.

"Without binding authority from WPEngine squarely recognizing a civil claim for attempted extortion under California law, the Court GRANTS Defendants' motion to dismiss Count 4 WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND," the judge wrote in her order.

However, many other claims survived and will continue to trial. The court allowed WPEngine to pursue allegations that Automattic interfered with its business relationships and violated California's Unfair Competition Law. Claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which deals with cyber crimes, also remain active.

The judge found that WPEngine provided enough evidence for Count 19 under Section 1030(a)(5) of the federal computer crime law. This section covers situations where someone damages protected computers. The court noted that this law was created "primarily to address the growing problem of computer hacking" but shouldn't become a "sweeping Internet-policing mandate."

WPEngine also gets to keep pursuing Count 5 under California's Unfair Competition Law. This law prohibits "unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice." The court said WPEngine had enough surviving claims to support this accusation.

The lawsuit revealed the complicated way WordPress is organized. Mullenweg wears multiple hats - he's the CEO of for-profit company Automattic, personally owns and controls wordpress.org, and has major influence over the non-profit WordPress Foundation. He controls 84% of Automattic's voting power through special agreements with other shareholders.

This setup has created ongoing tensions in the WordPress world about who controls WordPress trademarks and how they can be used commercially. The legal fight has already caused major disruptions, including 159 employees leaving Automattic through a voluntary buyout program and key developers quitting WordPress projects in protest.

The case also involves battles over popular WordPress plugins. In October 2024, WordPress.org took control of WPEngine's Advanced Custom Fields plugin, which is used by over 2 million websites. The plugin was renamed "Secure Custom Fields" and removed from WPEngine's control, leading to WPEngine seeking emergency court orders.

A separate federal judge later ordered Mullenweg to restore WPEngine's access to WordPress resources in December 2024, finding that blocking access caused harm to the broader WordPress community.

WPEngine's remaining claims include libel and slander charges in Counts 9, 10, and 11. These defamation claims are being analyzed under California's anti-SLAPP law, which protects people from lawsuits designed to silence free speech. The court must determine if Mullenweg's statements were protected speech or went too far.

The hosting company also maintains Count 20 for "unjust enrichment," claiming Automattic unfairly benefited from WPEngine's contributions to WordPress. WPEngine says it "invested hundreds of millions of dollars" and "thousands of engineering hours" into WordPress development that benefited the defendants.

For the marketing industry, this case highlights risks when major website platforms face legal disputes. The conflict disrupted access to essential tools that marketing teams rely on for client websites and campaigns. Similar trademark disputes have affected other WordPress companies, including a recent resolution between Automattic and WP Fusion developers.

The court gave WPEngine 21 days from September 12, 2025, to file an amended complaint fixing problems the judge identified. However, the company cannot add new accusations, name additional defendants, or include fresh claims. This limits WPEngine's ability to expand the case further.

Mullenweg celebrated the ruling as protecting open source software development. "This ruling is a significant milestone, but our focus remains the same: building a free, open, and thriving WordPress ecosystem and supporting the millions of people who rely on it every day," he wrote in his blog post.

The case continues in the Northern District of California under Judge Martínez-Olguín. While the biggest threats to Automattic's business model are gone, substantial litigation remains ahead. The surviving claims could still result in significant financial damages and changes to how WordPress operates.

Legal experts note that trademark and competition disputes in the technology sector often involve complex technical analysis and can take years to resolve fully. The WordPress case has already set precedents for how courts view open source software governance and commercial exploitation.

Industry watchers expect the remaining claims to focus on whether Mullenweg's actions crossed legal lines when trying to protect WordPress interests. The case could ultimately reshape how open source projects balance community needs with commercial relationships in an ecosystem worth billions of dollars annually.

Timeline

• September 20, 2024: Matt Mullenweg criticizes WP Engine during WordCamp US keynote speech
• September 23, 2024: Both companies exchange threatening legal letters over trademark disputes
• September 25, 2024: Mullenweg blocks WPEngine access to WordPress.org resources
• October 2, 2024: WPEngine files 20-count federal lawsuit against Automattic and Mullenweg
• October 5, 2024: Automattic offers buyout package, 159 employees leave company
• October 13, 2024: Key WordPress developer quits project citing disagreements with leadership
• October 18, 2024: WPEngine requests emergency court orders to stop alleged harassment
• December 13, 2024: Different federal judge orders restoration of WPEngine's WordPress access
• September 12, 2025: Court dismisses major antitrust and extortion claims but allows other accusations to continue

Summary

Who: Federal Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled in favor of WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and his company Automattic Inc. against web hosting provider WPEngine, Inc. in a major lawsuit.

What: The court dismissed the most serious claims including federal antitrust violations for monopoly abuse and California extortion charges, while allowing other business interference and unfair competition claims to proceed to trial.

When: The ruling was issued on September 12, 2025, in a case that started with WPEngine's lawsuit filed on October 2, 2024, following public disputes that began in September 2024.

Where: The decision came from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in Case No. 3:24-cv-06917-AMO.

Why: The judge found WPEngine failed to provide sufficient evidence for antitrust and extortion claims, but determined other allegations about business interference and unfair practices had enough merit to continue the legal battle.