A few days ago, Tesla Motors, the company started by Elon Musk thats trying to make electrics cars affordable and practical made a crazy announcement.
In broad terms, Tesla Motors has decided to open source all of its patents. Though the announcement didn’t disclose exact details or answer questions like whether people can use Teslas technology to make commercial products of their own, it marks a revolutionary step in the way companies think about intellectual property.
Why is this awesome?
To understand this, let us get into the mindsets of most companies today. Their modus operandi is as follows:
1. Keep trying till you build something cool/useful/innovative
2. Patent the shit out of it
3. Keep crushing your competitors with frivolous lawsuits
Now let me spell out for you why is this bad:
1. Stopping the cycle of innovation: Except in rare cases, brilliant ideas don’t come out of thin air. People take a problem, look at what others have have done to solve it and then try creating a solution of their own
. Often borrowing a lot from others. By locking down your solutions behind, you restrict anyone from taking your solution and making it better
2. Reinventing the wheel: You solve the problem but unless you share the solution with me, i’ll have to spend time and energy reinventing what you’ve made. Plain simple waste of resources
3. Milk the consumer mindset: Patents are a monopoly on ideas. Get a patent and milk consumers for as long as possible. If your goal was to solve a problem rather protect your bottom line, then patenting is the wrong way to go
. Why wouldn’t you share your ideas so that others can critique and build on top of it.
Today we’re entering the knowledge economy, knowledge is not privileged anymore. It is open and available for all, the prize goes to those who apply it best.
Welcome to the networked and open world enabled by the internet
-Take ideas, collaboratively improve them
-Focus is on solving the problem in the best way possible
-Good ideas shine, bad ideas have nowhere to hide.
This is ridiculous, i’ll never get paid
- Ideas are cheap.
Tested designs more expensive.
Creating a product that people trust and recommend? Priceless