Tesla Releases Electric Car Patents To the Public 211
mknewman (557587) writes with a welcome followup to the broad hints that Tesla might release some of its patents for others to use patents that it has amassed. Now, Elon Musk writes on the company's blog: Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology. Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.
Re:Trust but verify (Score:4, Interesting)
Well the blog post is really all they need now. he is the CEO of the company, which means what he writes there is what it is. If they sue now there will be some massive fees for them..
The question I would have though is what it means to be in good faith...
Re:what about the battery patents or chargers? (Score:3, Interesting)
A share-alike clause? (Score:5, Interesting)
Briliant move (Score:3, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Trust but verify (Score:5, Interesting)
Bingo.
If I had any real forward momentum with an electric car design that might use something patented by Tesla, I'd approach them to get a formal agreement, even if it's just a rubber-stamp formality. The tens of thousands of dollars in lawyer costs to ensure that millions of dollars in lawsuits are avoided would be worthwhile.
It is worthy to note that automakers have released patents before. Volvo invented the three-point seatbelt that has become the ubiquitous seatbelt today, and they felt that it was so important that they released their patent early specifically so that other automakers could make their cars safer.
I kind of also expect that Tesla has something new, so these patents aren't all that important to protect their business, as their new thing will probably blow the doors off of the current stuff.
Is There A List? (Score:5, Interesting)
Read through the blog post, didn't see a link or listing of the patents that they've 'open-sourced.'
Anybody know where to find them? I'm curious.
Re:This really does work to their advantage (Score:2, Interesting)
many people are still afraid of electric cars for one reason or another.
I'm not afraid of them, they just do not suit my daily driving needs and their TCO is still higher than the standard gasoline fueled cars available. It's not about fear, but economics and how impractical they are in practice. I need a car that can reliably go 200 miles at 30 - 70 MPH on a hot day without recharging, carry 4 comfortably and has a TCO that compares to the used Honda Accord I have now. Right now, such electric cars don't exist, or they are hugely expensive.
His past... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Trust but verify (Score:5, Interesting)
You're fully correct about the legal doctrine, but in reality there's a non-zero chance that it will cost you a very large number of dollars to defend a patent lawsuit filed by a future assignee who convinces the judge that even the "clearer statement" (1) wasn't so clear and/or (2) didn't apply to your particular use.
There's actually a simple way that Tesla could make this binding -- formally disclaim the rest of the term of the patents at the Patent Office [uspto.gov].
37 C.F.R. 1.321 Statutory disclaimers, including terminal disclaimers.
(a) A patentee owning the whole or any sectional interest in a patent may disclaim any complete claim or claims in a patent. In like manner any patentee may disclaim or dedicate to the public the entire term, or any terminal part of the term, of the patent granted. Such disclaimer is binding upon the grantee and its successors or assigns. A notice of the disclaimer is published in the Official Gazette and attached to the printed copies of the specification.
It will be interesting to see if they actually go that far.
Re:Thanks (Score:2, Interesting)
You should tell that to Apple. Maybe they'll start selling low end devices. It's working out so great for HP, Samsung, HTC, Dell, and all the other device manufacturers. Oh. wait, it isn't. Apple is raking in tons of profits selling only high end devices, while all the other device manufacturers are fighting for the bottom of the market trying to figure out how to make a buck off people who don't want to spend money.
Re:Excellent! (Score:0, Interesting)
Apple's innovation of the iPhone caused three handset companies to either go bankrupt or be broken apart and sold off: Motorola, Nokia, and Blackberry. Motorola's handset division is now owned by Lenovo. Nokia's handset division is now owned by Microsoft. And Blackberry, not ever big enough to have been broken apart, I think they just went bankrupt.
We have better phones today, and yes, it is in large part due to the folks at Apple.
Re:Trust but verify (Score:4, Interesting)
They don't really need something "new", because what they already have is a completely new mindset for a car company. They are so far ahead of the established old-thought auto makers in so many areas that it would take the rest of them a complete overhaul of their entire executive staff, middle management, engineer and design teams, factories, etc, to get close.
Not to mention they are profitable and make an $80k+ niche car that has been backordered since well before it was ever released. At some level it's like Ferrari saying "ok, we are releasing the patents behind our $1M supercar" - the market is so specialized it wouldn't matter, and Ferrari's demand so outstrips their supply you basically have to get permission from Ferrari to even buy one [carsguide.com.au].
Re:Trust but verify (Score:5, Interesting)