Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, announced that Tesla is making its electric car patents available to all free of charge—a decision that, as Tyler Cowen remarked on his Marginal Revolution blog, could be as important as Henry Ford’s 1914 decision to pay auto workers the hitherto-unheard-of wage of $5 a day.
Elon Musk
Musk decided that it is more important to grow the market for electric cars than to use Tesla’s patents to dominate that market. I hope that decision pays off for Tesla as Henry Ford’s decision did for Ford, because it removes an obstacle to technological progress.
The original purpose of patents was to give inventors an incentive to share their secrets, in return for temporary monopolies on their inventions. But in recent years, the scope of patent protection has been extended by law to the extent that it stifles competition and economic growth. Maybe Musk’s business model will change that. I hope so. Good for him for trying!
LINKS
‘All Our Patents Are Belong to You,” the announcement by Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk.
Tesla Making Patents ‘Open Source’ to Boost Electric Cars by Alan Ohsman for Bloomberg.
Phil Ebersole's Blog 