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Numenta Contributor License V1.1
We have made two small changes to our Contributor License, regarding GitHub Usernames and Patent License changes, detailed below.
Github Username Required
The new version of the CL now requires a Github username, which is necessary in any case for potential contributors to submit changes to our codebase or documentation.
Patent License Change
A member of our community brought up a concern, so we’ve added a short clarification to Section 3 regarding grants of patent license.
3. Grant of Patent License.
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, You hereby grant to Numenta and to recipients of software distributed by Numenta a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work, where such license applies only to those patent claims existing as of the effective date of this CLA and licensable by You that exist at the time of the signing of this agreement and are necessarily infringed by Your Contribution(s) alone or by combination of Your Contribution(s) with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If any entity institutes patent litigation against You or any other entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that your Contribution, or the Work to which you have contributed, constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses granted to that entity under this Agreement for that Contribution or Work shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed.
This addition bounds the rights of Numenta, preventing us from exercising a royalty-free license to any patents a contributor creates in the future unassociated with the NuPIC project.
Your Options
If you have already signed the CL, and you are comfortable with the document you’ve signed, you don’t need to do anything. If you would like, you may sign V1.1 of the CL, which will supersede any existing version on file with us. Once I receive the latest version of the signed document, I will overwrite any existing CL you’ve submitted.
Back to BlogMatt Taylor
Open Source Community Flag-Bearer
Numenta, Inc.