ARCHIVED version from April 17, 2020 

See latest page at https://opencovidpledge.org/licenses/

Info About Licenses

Thank you for making the Open COVID Pledge 

Before we can upload or link to your announcement and your license, and before we can add you and your license to our database, we want to make you aware that we accept three categories of licenses. These categories help users understand their rights, and are organized accordingly on our website for ease of reference. 

ARCHIVED version as of April 17, 2020 

See latest page at https://opencovidpledge.org/licenses/

ARCHIVED version as of April 17, 2020 

See latest page at https://opencovidpledge.org/licenses/

We Accept 3 Categories of Licenses

A. Open COVID Licenses:

First, we have developed a set of Open COVID Licenses (OCL) that may be adopted by any organization or individual taking the Pledge.

B. Open COVID Compatible Licenses:

Second, are licenses that provide a set of minimum use permissions and other terms that have either been determined to be compatible, or we determine are compatible with the OCL on a case-by-case basis based on criteria below (OCL Compatible Licenses).  

C. Open COVID Alternative Licenses:

Third, are those licenses that are not in the first or second groupings above, but that are still consistent with the Open COVID Pledge (OCL Alternative Licenses).

We welcome all licenses within these categories.

We also recognize efforts that complement our own and that are consistent with the Pledge but do not include licenses that we list on this page.

A. Open Covid Licenses

The Open COVID Coalition publishes standard licenses that can be used by anyone that has adopted the Open COVID Pledge.

Our licenses have many features in common. Every Open COVID License (OCL) grants the public worldwide permission to use the pledgor’s intellectual property rights (copyright and patent rights, or patent rights only) so long as they are used for the purpose of diagnosing, preventing, containing, and treating COVID-19. This is allowable without having to negotiate a special agreement, or pay a royalty or other fee to the patent or copyright holder.

  • Open COVID License – Patent (OCL-P) 1.1

    PUBLICATION DATE: APRIL 17, 2020
    (NOTE THAT NO EARLIER NUMBERED VERSIONS EXIST)

    Open COVID License – Patent (OCL-P) 1.1

    Having made the Open COVID Pledge, we (the “Pledgor”), in order to speed the development and dissemination of the technologies needed to end the COVID-19 Pandemic and mitigate the effects of the disease, grant the license described below.

    Our intent in doing so is to advance the shared cause of ending the COVID-19 Pandemic, and we do so without any expectation of consideration or compensation, and with knowledge of the rights we are licensing.

    1. GRANT AND SCOPE

    The Pledgor grants to every person and entity that wishes to accept it, a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid-up license (without the right to sublicense) under Pledgor’s patents (the “Licensed IP”) to make, have made, use, sell, and import any patented invention, solely for the purpose of diagnosing, preventing, containing, and treating COVID-19.

    2. TIME LIMITATION

    This license is effective as of December 1, 2019 and lasts until one year after the World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 Pandemic to have ended, but in any event not beyond January 1, 2023, unless otherwise extended by the Pledgor.

    3. REGULATORY EXCLUSIVITY

    The Pledgor will not assert any regulatory exclusivity against any entity  or individual for use of the Licensed IP in accordance with the license granted in Section 1, and we will not seek injunctive or regulatory relief to prevent any entity or individual from doing so.

    4. DEFENSIVE SUSPENSION

    The license and non-assertion covenant granted above shall automatically be suspended, and the Pledgor shall be free to assert the Licensed IP against the licensee, if the licensee or any entity affiliated with the licensee threatens or initiates a suit or legal proceeding alleging the infringement of any patent or other intellectual property right against the Pledgor or any entity affiliated with the Pledgor.

    5. NO WARRANTY

    The license granted herein is “AS IS” without any warranties, express or implied.

    All copyright and related rights in the Open COVID License are waived via CC0.

Open COVID License – Patent and Copyright (OCL-PC) 1.1

PUBLICATION DATE: APRIL 17, 2020
(NOTE THAT VERSION 1.0 WAS PUBLISHED ON MARCH 31, 2020, AND IS MAINTAINED IN THE TAB BELOW)

Open COVID License – Patent and Copyright (OCL-PC) 1.1

Having made the Open COVID Pledge, we (the “Pledgor”), in order to speed the development and dissemination of the technologies needed to end the COVID-19 Pandemic and mitigate the effects of the disease, grant the license described below.

Our intent in doing so is to advance the shared cause of ending the COVID-19 Pandemic, and we do so without any expectation of consideration or compensation, and with knowledge of the rights we are licensing.

1. GRANT AND SCOPE

The Pledgor grants to every person and entity that wishes to accept it, a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid-up license (without the right to sublicense) under Pledgor’s patents and copyrights that we have the right to license (the “Licensed IP”) to make, have made, use, sell, and import any patented invention, and reproduce, adapt, translate, distribute, perform, display, modify, create derivative works of and otherwise exploit any copyrights, solely for the purpose of diagnosing, preventing, containing, and treating COVID-19.

2. TIME LIMITATION

This license is effective as of December 1, 2019 and lasts until one year after the World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 Pandemic to have ended, but in any event not beyond January 1, 2023, unless otherwise extended by the Pledgor. 

3. REGULATORY EXCLUSIVITY

The Pledgor will not assert any regulatory exclusivity against any entity or individual for use of the Licensed IP in accordance with the license granted in Section 1, and we will not seek injunctive or regulatory relief to prevent any entity or individual from doing so.

4. DEFENSIVE SUSPENSION

The license and non-assertion covenant granted above shall automatically be suspended, and the Pledgor shall be free to assert the Licensed IP against the licensee, if the licensee or any entity affiliated with the licensee threatens or initiates a suit or legal proceeding alleging the infringement of any patent or other intellectual property right against the Pledgor or any entity affiliated with the Pledgor.

5. NO WARRANTY

The license granted herein is “AS IS” without any warranties, express or implied. 

All copyright and related rights in the Open COVID License are waived via CC0.

Open COVID License 1.0

OPEN COVID LICENSE 1.0
MARCH 31, 2020

Having made the Open COVID Pledge, we (the “Pledgor”), in order to speed the development and dissemination of the technologies needed to end the COVID-19 Pandemic and mitigate the effects of the disease, grant the license described  below.

Our intent in doing so is to advance the shared cause of ending the COVID-19 Pandemic, and we do so without any expectation of consideration or compensation, and with knowledge of the rights we are licensing.

1. GRANT AND SCOPE

The Pledgor grants to every person and entity that wishes to accept it, a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid-up license (without the right to sublicense) to make, have made,  use, sell, import, reproduce, adapt, translate, distribute, perform, display, modify, create derivative works of and otherwise exploit all patent, copyright and other intellectual and industrial property rights (other than trademarks and trade secrets) in products, services, compositions of matter, machines, articles of manufacture, processes, and works of authorship that we have the right to license under these terms (the “Licensed IP”), for the sole purpose of ending the “COVID-19 Pandemic” (as defined by the World Health Organization, “WHO”) and minimizing the impact of the disease, including without limitation the diagnosis, prevention, containment, and treatment of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

2. TIME LIMITATION

This license is effective as of December 1, 2019 and lasts until one year after WHO declares the COVID-19 Pandemic to have ended. 

3. REGULATORY EXCLUSIVITY

The Pledgor will not assert any regulatory exclusivity against any entity for use of the Licensed IP in accordance with the license granted in Section 1, and we will not seek injunctive or regulatory relief to prevent any entity from doing so.

4. DEFENSIVE SUSPENSION

The license and non-assertion covenant granted above shall automatically be suspended, and the Pledgor shall be free to assert the Licensed IP against the licensee, if the licensee or any entity affiliated with the licensee threatens or initiates a suit or legal proceeding alleging the infringement of any patent or other intellectual property right against the Pledgor or any entity affiliated with the Pledgor with respect to any activity relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

5. NO WARRANTY

The license granted herein is “AS IS” without any warranties, express or implied. 

All copyright and related rights in the Open COVID License are waived via CC0.

B. Open COVID Compatible Licenses:

1. Creative Commons Licenses (copyright only)

CC BY 4.0 International License

Learn more

CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication

Learn more

  • Intel Open COVID License

    INTEL OPEN COVID LICENSE 1.0

    APRIL 7, 2020

    Intel Corporation (the “Pledgor”), in order to speed the development and dissemination of the technologies needed to end the COVID-19 Pandemic and mitigate the effects of the disease, grants the license described below.

    Our intent in doing so is to advance the shared cause of ending the COVID-19 Pandemic, and we do so without any expectation of consideration or compensation, and with knowledge of the rights we are licensing.

    1. GRANT AND SCOPE

    The Pledgor grants to every person and entity that wishes to accept it, a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid-up license (without the right to sublicense) (a) under Pledgor’s patents to make, have made, use, sell, and import any patented invention, solely for the purpose of diagnosing, preventing, containing, and treating COVID-19 (the “Purpose”), and (b) under Pledgor’s copyrights to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, and create derivative works of Pledgor’s copyrighted works solely for the Purpose.  This license does not apply to the commercial sale of integrated circuits for data processing, memory and networking, including microprocessors, chipsets, FPGAs and ASICs.  Any person or entity who exercises this license agrees by doing so to provide Intel, promptly after request, with documentation sufficient to confirm their compliance with these terms.

    2. TIME LIMITATION

    This license is effective as of December 1, 2019 and lasts until one year after WHO declares the COVID-19 Pandemic to have ended, but in any event, not beyond January 1, 2023. 

    3. REGULATORY EXCLUSIVITY

    To the extent any laws regarding regulatory exclusivity for new pharmaceuticals are hereafter found to have applicability to the Pledgor’s products, the Pledgor will not assert any regulatory exclusivity against any entity for any of the activities licensed under Section 1, and the Pledgor will not seek injunctive or regulatory relief to prevent any entity from engaging in such activities.  

    4. DEFENSIVE SUSPENSION

    The license and non-assertion covenant granted above shall automatically be suspended, and the Pledgor shall be free to assert the licensed patents and copyrights against any person or entity, if such person or entity threatens or initiates a suit or legal proceeding alleging the infringement of any patent or copyright against the Pledgor or any entity affiliated with the Pledgor for any activities this license authorizes others to engage in.

    5. MISCELLANEOUS

    The license granted herein does not supplement or modify any existing agreements between Pledgor and any person or entity who exercises this license.  In the event of any conflict between this license and an existing agreement, the terms of the existing agreement shall govern.  The license granted herein is “AS IS” without any warranties, express or implied.  Except as expressly set forth in this license, no other rights are granted, whether by implication, estoppel, statute or otherwise. All matters related to this license are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without reference to conflict-of-laws principles.  All suits and other proceedings related to this Agreement are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in the State of Delaware.

See Intel Statement

  • 1. A public offer.

    Your license must be available to the public so that any company, organization, or individual can accept and rely upon it, so long as they comply with its terms.

    2. Scope of rights granted.

    Your license must grant all rights necessary as a matter of (1) copyright and patent rights (inclusion of additional intellectual property rights is permissible), (2) patents only, or (3) copyrights only. The license may specify whether all or only some of your IP are licensed.

    3. Fees.

    The license must be royalty free and fully paid up for uses within the scope of the license.

    4. Regulatory Exclusions.

    To the extent applicable to the licensed intellectual property, a promise not to assert regulatory exclusivity in any jurisdiction, or seek judicial or regulatory relief, for use of that intellectual property.

    5. Duration.

    The duration of the license grant must begin no later than December 1, 2019, and end no earlier than the end of the COVID-19 Pandemic as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) plus one year, but you may also specify a firm end date if the WHO has not by then declared the end of the pandemic, so long as it is no earlier than January 1, 2023.


    6. Field of use.

    Your license must allow use of the licensed IP for at least the purpose of diagnosing, preventing, containing, and treating COVID-19.

    Your license may grant broader permissions than these minimums. Those might include, for example, a longer term than the minimum prescribed. However, if a license further conditions the permissions granted to the public, such as prohibiting commercial uses or conditioning use on sharing by users of their intellectual property (such as grantbacks, share-alike or copyleft), we will not consider it OCL Compatible, though it can be listed as an Alternative License (see below).

C. Open COVID Alternative Licenses:

This group consists of licenses that are consistent with the Open COVID Pledge but that may contain terms that do not satisfy the terms and conditions of (A) or (B), above.

ARCHIVED version from April 17, 2020 

See latest page at https://opencovidpledge.org/licenses/