This is a list of considerations TSC members apply to inbound project contributions.

Codebase

(Danno) Code should exist as open source software in some form
- Some projects come up from labs (Cactus, others?)
- Some projects have stand alone governance prior to joining (Besu ... others?)
(Danno) Codebase should be Apache 2 licensable, without encumbrances
- Non-apache 2 licensed code is possible, but requires Governing board approval (Section 12 subsection d of the Hyperledger Charter)
- Required patent licensing issues have prevented projects from entering incubation
- Special examination should be given to copyleft and non-licensed code.

Maintainers

(Danno) The project should have multiple maintainers
- These maintainers need not be from different companies
  - However, having maintainers from different companies is seen as a positive sign (Hart)
- Proposals with only one maintainer have been rejected by prior TSCs.

(Tracy) Trademark concerns – project names should not be trademarked by a contributing company or if it is, then the trademark will need to be handed over to Hyperledger.

(Tracy) The TSC has mentioned that they are not interested in bringing in additional distributed ledger projects. There should be a distinct advantage for a new distributed ledger project.
(Tracy) Based on the HIP template, dependent project's maintainers must sign off on the proposal before it is considered by the TSC.