Peng is not just talking nonsense: in 2005, IBM opened 500 software patents to major software developers for free; In the following 10 years, IBM strategically opened patent database, open source software and system platform. Crazy development of patents, free patent opening. Is there something wrong with IBM's brain? IBM: There is something wrong with not opening the patent for free! The painful experience of picking up sesame seeds and losing melons is still fresh in IBM's memory. We often hear the saying that "third-rate enterprises make products, second-rate enterprises make brands, and first-rate enterprises make standards", which makes sense.
"Standard" is a mandatory rule that an industry must abide by. For example, the national standard stipulates that aflatoxin in edible oil should be ≤20ppb, so all edible oils sold in China market must meet the standard requirements of ≤20ppb, otherwise they cannot be sold. First-class enterprises have mastered the necessary patents of an industry standard, so every product sold in this industry market must pay the patent licensing fee to this enterprise. This enterprise can also make money lying down, which is more and faster than printing money with a printing machine.
So, how did the standard come from? From the experience of many industries, standards are from mainstream technologies; And where did the mainstream technology come from? With more people, one technology becomes the mainstream technology. IBM once suffered a fiasco, losing to the word "mainstream technology". Our computer can access the Internet and exchange information with other computers, which depends on the TCP/IP protocol. TCP/IP protocol is the same protocol among all hosts on the Internet, and it is a rule and standard that all networked computers must abide by. Before TCP/IP protocol became an international standard, NetBeui network protocol developed by IBM competed with it, and NetBeui network protocol was more advanced than TCP/IP protocol in technology.
Unfortunately, IBM's heavy protection of intellectual property rights of NetBeui network protocol has pushed users to the TCP/IP protocol that has been opened for free, making TCP/IP protocol the mainstream technology. Slowly, this mainstream technology has become a global mandatory standard. IBM's NetBeui network protocol has since become an abandoned child of history. After this lesson, IBM began to open some patents for free in a planned, step-by-step and strategic way, guiding its followers to become promoters of its own strategic technology, making its own technology mainstream and in a leading position when formulating new standards.
Having said that, readers should be able to guess Tesla's intention to open the electric vehicle patent: when the electric vehicle market is still weak, Musk announced the opening of Tesla's patent and encouraged all automakers to pay attention to and use Tesla's technology. On the one hand, Tesla can rapidly expand the electric vehicle industry with the help of more manufacturers, and Tesla can get more benefits from this super-large industry; Secondly, Tesla's technology can become the international mainstream technology. Tesla can play a dominant role when countries formulate technical standards for electric vehicles.
If it is purely for public welfare purposes, enterprises do not need to apply for patents before opening up, and they can directly disclose their technologies without applying for patents. Of course, Tesla's approach is indeed a good thing for promoting the development of the global green car industry.