Trademark Usage Policy#

This document’s goal is to clarify allowed uses of the Jupyter trademarks. We wish to implement a very permissive policy that legally protects the trademarks while encouraging the community to liberally use the trademarks. In general:

  • If you are using the Jupyter name or a Jupyter logo to refer to Jupyter, that is generally allowed, and you don’t need to ask permission.

  • If you are using a Jupyter logo, please use an unmodified version from the brand guidelines.

See the Uses that Never Require Approval section for the details in most common cases, and feel free to get in touch with the Jupyter Trademarks Committee if you have any further questions.

This document is based on the Python Software Foundation trademark policy, so if you are familiar with use of Python and its logo and trademarks, these guidelines are quite similar.

Introduction#

This document outlines the policy of the Project Jupyter (“Jupyter”) regarding the use of its trademarks. Any use of any Project Jupyter trademark must be in accordance with this policy.

“Jupyter” is a trademark of the NumFOCUS foundation, of which Project Jupyter is a part.

The Jupyter logos (in several variants) are trademarks of NumFOCUS as well.

The Jupyter Trademark is registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Derivative word marks referring to Jupyter projects or events, such as “JupyterDays,” “JupyterLab,” “JupyterHub,” “Jupyter Notebook” are also covered by this policy.

All trademarks, even those that apply to open source software, must be used according to certain legal requirements. If these requirements are not met, the trademark may be endangered or lost. One of these requirements is for the trademark owner (in this case, NumFOCUS) to maintain standards for using its trademarks, and to enforce acceptable use of the trademarks by taking action against parties that violate those standards.

Trademark law is mainly a way to protect the public, rather than the trademark holder. This means that uses of trademarks that confuse consumers are not permitted under law. In our case, “consumers” would include our developer and user community, or anyone else who might be likely to use Jupyter services, software, or applications. As the owner of the trademark, we must be sure the mark is used properly, so the community is not confused. That is what we mean when we say that an unpoliced trademark may be endangered or lost. When the trademark no longer represents a certain level of quality to the community, or no longer indicates that we are the source of the products that bear the trademark, the trademark loses its value.

Underlying Project Jupyter’s trademark policy is a set of guidelines for what is – and is not – acceptable use of our trademarks, specifically the word mark “Jupyter”, the Jupyter logos, and variations of those marks. This policy describes the uses generally approved by Jupyter and NumFOCUS for its trademarks. However, if you violate this policy, or otherwise take actions that may compromise the reputation or trademarks of Jupyter, or expose NumFOCUS to liability, NumFOCUS may require you to cease all use of any Jupyter trademark, regardless of the uses allowed in this policy.

General Goals#

In general, we want the word mark “Jupyter” and the Jupyter logos to be used with minimal restriction to refer to Jupyter events, software, or services.

We do not want these trademarks to be used:

  • to refer to any other events, software, or services

  • in a way that is misleading or may imply association of third-party events, software, or services with Project Jupyter

  • in ways that confuse the community as to whether the software created by Project Jupyter is open source and free to use

Uses that Never Require Approval#

All trademarks are subject to “nominative use rules” that allow use of the trademark to name the trademarked entity in a way that is minimal and does not imply a sponsorship relationship with the trademark holder.

As such, stating accurately that software, a service, or an activity uses Jupyter software, integrates with Jupyter software, that it is compatible with Jupyter software, or that it contains Jupyter software, is always allowed. In those cases, you may use the word “Jupyter”, unaltered Jupyter logos, or images or videos of Jupyter applications to indicate this, without our prior approval, provided such use does not imply Project Jupyter’s sponsorship or endorsement. This is true both for non-commercial and commercial uses.

This clause overrides other clauses of this policy. However, if you have any doubts about your intended use of the trademarks, please contact the Jupyter Trademarks Committee.

Use of the Jupyter trademark on merchandise#

Using the Jupyter trademarks to refer to Jupyter on your own product’s merchandise is covered by the Uses that Never Require Approval above.

We encourage use of the Jupyter trademarks (logo and word mark) on stickers, hats, mugs, t-shirts, and other physical merchandise to promote the project and the broader open-source ecosystem. No explicit approval is needed for these uses as long as

  1. the use follows the official Jupyter Brand Guidelines and

  2. the merchandise is provided free of charge.

We understand that not everyone (including ourselves) can afford to give away merchandise in sufficient quantities to meet demand. Because of this, we would love help from the community in creating an official place to purchase Jupyter branded merchandise with the profits going back to the project through NumFOCUS.

If you are interested in helping out with this please get in touch with us on the Jupyter Google Group. Offering Jupyter branded merchandise for sale without explicit approval is not permitted.

Uses that Always Require Approval#

Any commercial use of the Jupyter trademarks in product or company names must be approved first by Project Jupyter. Some uses, like calling a company “The Jupyter Company,” or a product “Jupyter Hosting” or “Jupyter Cloud” will be refused. This is because they are overly broad, or confusing as to whether Jupyter is open source or commercial, or whether your product or organization is affiliated with or sponsored by Project Jupyter.

Any use of a derived (modified) logo for any commercial or non-commercial purpose must also be approved first by Project Jupyter. We will generally be unable to do this because of the confusion it may cause.

How to Use the Trademarks#

Although many uses of Jupyter’s trademarks are governed by more specific rules, which appear in the examples below, the following basic guidelines apply to almost any use of Jupyter’s trademarks.

  1. The Jupyter trademarks are registered. These marks should be used in accordance with the Jupyter brand guidelines, and should be accompanied by a symbol for registered trademarks: “(r)” or “®”. This may not be removed or obscured and must always be included with the logo. This requirement is waived in all contexts where such marks are not normally included: email, online discussion, non-graphical advertisements (when permitted), and academic papers. We encourage the use of the symbol whenever possible, but recognize that many non-commercial and informal uses will omit it.

  2. If the word “Jupyter” or the Jupyter logos are used in certain contexts, the following statement should accompany its use:

    “Jupyter” and the Jupyter logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of NumFOCUS, used by ___________ with permission.

  3. For websites and documentation this can be on a “legal statements” page. For brochures and published articles, this statement is optional. We encourage use of this statement, particularly for published materials, but recognize some non-commercial and informal uses will omit it.

  4. Don’t use the trademark as a verb (“Jupyter your software today!”).

Examples#

We have specific rules for the following uses:

  1. Use of the word “Jupyter” in text, or as text in 3rd party logos and trademarks.

  2. Use of one of the Jupyter-provided logo variants in unaltered form.

The following rules apply to the use of trademarks in each of these classes.

The word “Jupyter”#

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” in the names of freely distributed products like neo4jupyter, jupyter-spark, jupyter-fortran-kernel – Allowed when referring to use with or suitability for Jupyter. For commercial products, contact the Jupyter Trademark Committee for permission.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” in company names – Allowed only by prior written permission from the Jupyter Trademark Committee.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” when redistributing Jupyter software as part of a freely distributed application – Allowed. If the standard version of the Jupyter software is modified, this should be clearly indicated. For commercial distributions, contact Jupyter for permission if your use is not covered by the nominative use rules described in the section “Uses that Never Require Approval” above.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” in the names of user groups and conferences that are free to join or attend (Ex., “Jupyter Meetup”) – Allowed if referring to the Jupyter software. Other uses require permission.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” in the name of books or publications like “Jupyter Journal” and “Jupyter Cookbook” – Allowed if referring to the Jupyter software.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” on websites, brochures, documentation, and product packaging – Allowed if referring to the Jupyter software. Please follow the rules above about the use of the TM symbol.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” in advertisements – Allowed in most cases by the nominative use rules described in the section “Uses that Never Require Approval” above. Other uses in ads only with prior permission.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” in email and informally – Allowed without the TM symbol.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” in academic papers, theses, and books – Allowed without the TM symbol. Books should include the symbol.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” in another trademark – Not allowed without prior written permission from Jupyter, except as described above.

  • Use of the word “Jupyter” in a domain name – Allowed in subdomains and url-paths, such as “jupyter.example.com” and “example.com/jupyter”. Not allowed in base domains, such as “jupytercloud.com” or “hostedjupyter.horse”.

Unaltered Logos#

  • Use of unaltered Jupyter-provided logos on T-shirts, mugs, etc. – Again, non-commercial uses to promote the Jupyter software are allowed. Commercial uses (which includes any use where you sell these items for money) require permission from Project Jupyter. Please reproduce our logos with the right colors and fonts; if you need help, let us know. See the brand guidelines.

  • Use of unaltered Jupyter-provided logos on websites, brochures, and product packaging. Non-commercial uses to promote the Jupyter software are allowed, as are all nominative uses as described in the section “Uses that Never Require Approval”. Any other commercial uses require prior written permission from Project Jupyter. See the brand guidelines.

Acknowledgments#

This document is derived from the Python Software Foundation trademark policy.