The preliminary injunction is the result of a lawsuit by WP Engine, a third-party WordPress hosting provider, accusing Automattic and Mullenweg of extortion and abuse of power. WP Engine later asked the court to reverse the ban.
The ban also resulted in WP Engine not being able to access and update its popular Advanced Custom Field (ACF) plugin, which Automattic took control of, forked it, and named it Secure Custom Fields (SCF). The ruling orders Automattic to restore WP Engine’s access and control of ACF on WordPress.org.