Is Tesla patent disclosure free?

Applying for a patent first and then releasing the patent for free is actually a more ambitious strategy of giant companies. To know Tesla’s true intention of opening up its patents for free, you might as well first understand the real case of IBM. As long as you understand IBM's intention, you can draw inferences and deduce what Tesla's true intention is in opening up its patents for free in a context where various technical standards for electric vehicles have not yet been unified and the electric vehicle market is still young. People in the IT industry, or people with experience in purchasing computers, should all know the world-famous IBM company. But they may not know that since 1992, IBM has topped the annual list of new patents in the United States for 24 consecutive years. There are huge benefits within the champion's attire: patent licensing fees alone can bring IBM an average of US$1 billion in revenue every year; in 1999, IBM even used its patents to earn US$30 billion. Sales of new parts. Patents bring such huge returns to IBM, so it must attach great importance to the ownership and protection of patents, right? That’s right, you can tell by looking at the fact that it applies for the most patents in the United States every year. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, because IBM’s former president Palmisano Palmisano once said that one of the first tasks he faces is to make most patents free and open.

Peng Mingsheng did not just talk nonsense: in 2005, IBM opened 500 software patents to major software developers for free; in the following 10 years, IBM successively strategically opened up patent databases, open source software and System platform, etc. One hand is frantically developing patents, while the other hand is making the patents available for free. Is there something wrong with IBM's brain? IBM: There is something wrong with your brain if you don’t open up your patents for free! IBM still remembers the painful experience of sesame seeds and winter melon. We often hear the saying "third-rate companies make products, second-rate companies make brands, and first-rate companies make standards." This sentence makes sense.

"Standards" are rules that an industry must abide by and are mandatory. For example, national standards stipulate that the aflatoxin content of edible oil must be ≤20 ppb. Therefore, all edible oils sold in the Chinese market must meet the standard requirement of ≤20 ppb, otherwise they cannot be sold. If a first-class company masters the necessary patents for an industry standard, then every product sold in this industry market will have to pay a patent license fee to this company, and this company can just sit back and make money, which is better than printing money with a money printing machine. A lot, come quickly.

So, where did the standard come from? Judging from many industrial experiences, standards come from mainstream technology; and where does mainstream technology come from? When more people use it, a technology becomes mainstream. IBM's previous defeat was due to the words "mainstream technology". Our computers can access the Internet and exchange information with other computers, relying on the TCP/IP protocol. The TCP/IP protocol is the unique protocol between all hosts on the Internet. It is a rule and standard that all networked computers around the world must abide by. Before the TCP/IP protocol became an international standard, the NetBeui network protocol developed by IBM competed with it. Moreover, technically, the NetBeui network protocol was more advanced than the TCP/IP protocol.

Unfortunately, IBM's heavy protection of the intellectual property rights of the NetBeui network protocol has driven users to the free and open TCP/IP protocol, making the TCP/IP protocol a mainstream technology. Slowly, this mainstream technology became a mandatory standard worldwide. IBM's NetBeui network protocol has since become an outcast of history. After this lesson, IBM began to open up some patents for free in a planned, step-by-step and strategic manner, guiding its followers to become promoters of its strategic technology and making its technology mainstream. When new standards are formulated, He is now in a dominant position.

Speaking of this, readers should be able to guess Tesla’s intention to open up electric vehicle patents: When the electric vehicle market is still weak, Musk announced the opening up of Tesla’s patents to encourage all cars Manufacturers will pay attention to and use Tesla's technology. Firstly, they can quickly expand the electric vehicle industry with the help of more manufacturers, and Tesla can obtain more benefits from this super large industry; secondly, it can make the electric vehicle industry bigger and bigger. Tesla's technology has become an international mainstream technology. When countries formulate technical standards for electric vehicles, Tesla can occupy a dominant and advantageous position.

If it is purely for public welfare purposes, there is no need for the company to apply for a patent first and then make it open to the public. It can directly disclose its technology without applying for a patent. Of course, Tesla’s approach is indeed a good thing for promoting the development of the global green car industry.