Numenta Licensing

(updated June 17, 2008)

This page is designed to give you information about Numenta's licenses. Please feel free to ask questions or give us feedback on the licensing forum. We will update this page as questions are asked and answered.



Business Strategy

We've had some questions on Numenta's business strategy, and how it relates to our licensing practice. This note from Jeff Hawkins responds to these questions.

"I have been working on a theory of the neocortex and the resulting Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM) framework for over twenty years. From the beginning, I knew that one day we would be able to build machines that work on principles used by the brain, and that doing so would benefit people all around the world. We decided to create Numenta when it became clear - in large part due to the work of Dileep George - that we could finally build technology based on the principles of HTM.

Our main objective is to maximize the impact of the HTM technology. The potential applications for this technology are far greater than any one company can explore, and therefore the only way to realize the potential is to create a developer community surrounding it. As I have a lot of experience in creating developer communities through my work at Grid, Palm and Handspring, I was energized about this idea.

We considered a not-for-profit structure. We considered an open-source structure. Ultimately, however, we decided that the way to get the most people working on HTM was within a for-profit framework. People move quickly in a for-profit environment - they are willing to invest more, and sooner, if they believe they have a financial return down the road.

We are focused on making developers successful by providing source code, documentation, and support. Developers own their own intellectual property rather than being required to contribute it back. A fundamental principle of the Numenta business structure is to be a catalyst that enables others to create profitable businesses.

Numenta is also a for-profit business. This is critical for us in order to attract high caliber employees and to fund the business over the long term. We will generate revenue by selling support, licensing software, and licensing intellectual property. The exact revenue mix will change over time, but we always will seek to make our developer partners successful, as well as be successful ourselves."

Licensing Background

We are in the early days of exploring hierarchical temporal memory (HTM) technology. We are interested in creating an active and engaged community of developers who are experimenting with this technology, and working together to advance the state of the art. We realize that you are taking some risk by investing your time early in unproven technology, and we appreciate your willingness to do so.

NuPIC Licenses

Today we offer the Numenta Platform for Intelligent Computing (NuPIC), including the Vision Framework, under a no-charge research license which gives broad rights for research purposes, but does not give rights for commercialization. We have created two versions of this research license, one for academics and the other for everybody else, allowing some tailored provisions for the academic community.

Some developers may prefer to create their own HTM platform rather than using NuPIC. We believe there are many advantages to using NuPIC, but we also understand that there are some reasons why certain developers wish to create alternatives. In either case, you may use our ideas and intellectual property at no charge, as long as it is for research only. Please see our statement below on this question under HTM Patents and Non-NuPIC Implementations.

Once you arrive at a point where you believe you have something of commercial value, then we ask that you pay us. We will provide a Commercial License at that time. Today's Research License allows education, network configuration, applications development, testing, debugging, validation, etc., but does not permit deployment or any production use. When you are ready to deploy, please get back in touch with us for the appropriate license.

In order to grow the platform, we also encourage you to create and to market derivative works of the tools and algorithms, and to create and to market applications. We encourage you to work with the source code we have provided under a separate license, and to create your own versions. You may sell these derivatives and your applications as long as the recipient also agrees to use them for research only, and as long as they work on NuPIC. If you want to sell these products for commercial use, then you will need to get a commercial license, or make sure that your customer has a commercial license.

We are particularly excited about the interest in our technology within the academic community. We have created a separate license for this community to encourage the use of HTM and NuPIC for instructional purposes, with additional rights such as the ability to distribute the platform within an accredited university and to publish results with appropriate citations.

Source code license

We offer a separate license to the tools and algorithms source code. Developers who accept this source license are agreeing to restrict their use of this source code to NuPIC, and to keep confidential that source code.

We encourage you to create and to market derivative works of these tools and algorithms. You may license your tools and algorithms to others as long as the recipient agrees to have an appropriate license, either a research license or a commercial license.

Additional licenses

We encourage you to create and to market derivative works of these tools and algorithms. You may license your tools and algorithms to others as long as the recipient agrees to have an appropriate license, either a research license or a commercial license.


Changes in Licenses with Version 1.6

We have made no changes to the NuPIC licenses with this new version of the software.

We have chosen to make available the source code to the tools and algorithms under a separate license. As such, the tools and algorithms provided in NuPIC are provided in object code only. There is a new license available for those who wish to receive this source code.

We have changed the licensing structure because of the significant advances made in this generation of algorithms, and our desire to avoid fragmenting the HTM community to many different platforms at this early stage in the development of this technology. Consequently, licensees to the algorithms source code will agree to restrict their use of that source code to NuPIC. The license continues to be at no charge, and continues to allow the marketing of derivative works.


Commercial License

We realize that without clear commercial licensing terms, it is hard for developers to evaluate the appropriateness of HTM technology on a business level. We are working on creating a commercial license, and welcome your feedback as we do so.

Here is our current thinking about pricing. For the runtime platform, today we think the right model is a capacity based pricing system. This structure would allow you to start working with the platform at a low cost, and only pay more if you have solved a large problem. As is typical for enterprise software, there likely will be tiers of pricing based on the support level required. Of course, as we learn more about the technology and how it solves problems, this thinking may change. We welcome your input as we move forward with a commercial license, so feel free to be in touch.

For higher level tools and for algorithms source code, today we expect to have a pricing structure that is similar to comparable software products. We expect that over time we will have pricing for large quantity deployments, embedded applications and web-hosted applications.


HTM Patents and non-NuPIC Implementations

Several developers have asked whether Numenta intends to enforce its patent rights against the development of independent HTM systems, i.e. those not derived from NuPIC. We have many patent applications both on HTM and on various aspects of NuPIC.

Here is our position: In order to encourage exploration and development of HTM technology, Numenta promises that it will not assert its current patent rights against development, use, or exploitation of independent HTM systems, as long as such development, use, or exploitation is for research purposes only, and not for any commercial or production use. Any commercial or production use of HTM technology that infringes on Numenta's patent rights will require an appropriate commercial license from Numenta. For these purposes, "commercial or production use" includes training an HTM network with the intent of later deploying the trained network or application for commercial or production purposes, and using or permitting others to use the output from HTM technology for commercial or production purposes.


Frequently Asked Questions

Q:

I've created a tool (or algorithm, or application) that I want to sell to others. I understand that I have to specify that it is for research only. What specific language should I use?

A:

You may sell, or distribute for free, your tools, algorithms, or applications to others as long as it is for research purposes. We recommend that you include the following wording in your license:
"This distribution is derived from technology licensed from Numenta, Inc. Any use of this distribution is subject to the restrictions on use of Numenta Technology set forth in the applicable Numenta license agreement, available at www.numenta.com."

Q:

 I've created my own HTM implementation without using NuPIC. May I post the source code and make it freely available to others?

A:

 Yes, as long as the intended purpose is for research only. We recommend that you include language as follows:
"This technology is provided for research purposes only, and not for any commercial or production use. Because Numenta, Inc., holds certain patent rights with respect to HTM technology, any commercial or production use of HTM technology may require an appropriate commercial license from Numenta, Inc."

Q:

 You keep referring to the Numenta or NuPIC Commercial License. I'd like to review it - where can I find it?

A:

 Numenta's Commercial Licenses are still under development and have not yet been released. If you have an application that is ready to deploy, and need the Commercial License, please contact us at: sales@numenta.com.

Q:

 I'm a registered Numenta user. May I post some of my NuPIC derived source code on the forums to share with other developers?

A:

 Yes. The tools and algorithms source code forums are available only to those developers who have registered and who have agreed to the NuPIC license. Since the audience there is closed, and it is not available to the general public, you may post source code on those forums.

Q:

 I'm a student writing my dissertation. I'd like to include NuPIC source code in my thesis. May I do this?

A:

 You may not include Numenta's source code that requires a license to access. However, you may use all the ideas included without license on our web site, and any source code that you have written. The Numenta research licenses also permit you to publish information about the results of your research. Please use a citation that indicates which ideas were derived from Numenta technology.

Q:

 I would like to post my application on SourceForge, and get others to collaborate with me. May I do this?

A:

 If your source code is derived from Numenta Technology, you may not post it on SourceForge because the license requires you to restrict any use to research purposes only. If your source code or application does not use any of our source code and is not based on or derived from Numenta Technology, then you may create an open source project based on it, but Numenta reserves all patent rights with respect to HTM and NuPIC technology. We are investigating the hosting of applications on our web site as well, which will enable open source collaborations.

Q:

 I work for a non-profit that is affiliated with an academic institution. Which license should I use?

A:

 You should use the General Research License. The Academic Research License is applicable to those accredited educational institutions who are primarily involved in student education.