This page contains the most recent information about licensing Ultrium technology from the LTO Program.
Ultrium Licensing
Open Licensing
To better serve the needs of customers in a tape storage
market that can seem complicated and confusing, Hewlett-Packard
IBM and Quantum (the Technology Provider Companies or TPCs) have
developed Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Technology and the Ultrium tape
format specifications. To answer industry calls for open tape
format specifications, the companies are making licenses available
to enable others to provide Ultrium tape mechanism and tape
cartridge products.
Description of Documents
Each license package contains one or all of the following types of documents:
Format Specification Documentation: Provides the technical information about the format necessary to develop mechanisms and cartridges that interchange between products of the same format.
License Documentation: Provides additional technical information about tolerance interdependencies and interchange verification testing, and also presents a conceptual overview of the design.
The Trademark Style Guide: Describes the use of the Ultrium trademarks and logos.
Types of Packages
Ultrium Tape Mechanism License Package.
Contains the interchange specifications for the tape mechanism and tape cartridge, supplemental information about the format, a limited license to the necessary tape mechanism TPC IP and trademarks, and the Trademark Style Guide.
Ultrium Tape Cartridge License Package.
Contains the interchange specifications for the tape cartridge, supplemental information about the format, a limited license to the necessary tape cartridge TPC IP and trademarks, and the Trademark Style Guide.
Ultrium Specification Document. Contains the interchange specifications for tape mechanism and tape cartridge.
License Process
A potential licensee should first contact the LTO Program and request a license and additional information if needed. Then the licensing administrator will send a confidential disclosure agreement that the potential licensee will sign and return.
The licensing administrator will then send the appropriate licensing agreements to the potential licensee. These agreements must be completed and returned to the licensing administrator along with the appropriate payment. After receiving the signed licensing agreements and paying the appropriate fees, the licensing administrator will send document packages for each license purchased.
Guide to Package Selection With the purchase of any of the following packages, the licensee receives the "basic package" with copies of the Format Specification for Ultrium, UCC and the Data Compression Format Specification. Additional documentation, IP rights, and fees vary with the type of license purchased.
TAPE CARTRIDGE LICENSES If you are interested only in designing Ultrium tape cartridges, the respective Tape Cartridge License is sufficient. In addition to the Format Specification documents, you will receive the Ultrium Tape Cartridge License Document and the Trademark Style Guide. You will also receive the necessary IP rights for the tape cartridge from the TPCs.
TAPE MECHANISM LICENSES This type of license enables the licensee to design Ultrium tape mechanisms. In addition to the Format Specification documents, you will also receive the Ultrium Tape Cartridge License document, the Ultrium Tape Mechanism License document, and the Trademark Style Guide. You will also receive certain essential IP rights for the tape mechanism from the TPCs.
FORMAT SPECIFICATION DOCUMENT PARTICIPANT The documentation you will receive in the basic package is sufficient for your company to build compliant products. However, your company will need to independently acquire any patent or other intellectual property rights of the TPCs or third parties necessary to produce the Ultrium tape cartridge or tape mechanism. If you are interested in investigating the feasibility of a format specification for your company, this type of agreement provides the opportunity to review a format specification with a minimal investment.
Compliance Verification In an effort to promote interchangeability of tape cartridges, the TPCs are enlisting the services of a third party verification test company to perform specification compliance verification testing. These tests will be required annually for all companies that use the logo.
Ultrium Licensing