Open source projects vary in 'openness', especially with the recent popularity of companies releasing open source products but strictly controlling them, which makes them less attractive for 3rd parties to depend on.
The Apache Foundation goes to a lot of work to make sure that open source project operate in a certain spirit, they encourage to have a diverse set of committers (so they arent all from one company), they also provide some insurance on the legal side of things
It sounds like the legal insurance may be one of the bigger drivers in this instance. I find it rather maddening that a clothing chain has problems with the PhoneGap name - there's absolutely no chance of consumer confusion here.
The Apache Foundation goes to a lot of work to make sure that open source project operate in a certain spirit, they encourage to have a diverse set of committers (so they arent all from one company), they also provide some insurance on the legal side of things