Ford Also Opens Up Electric Car Patents But Doesn’t Quite Pull Off A Tesla

Inventors are encouraged to patent their inventions so that their creations and technologies can not be used by anyone else without their permission. There’s also the school of thought which believes that patents get in the way of innovation since companies have to worry about not infringing on patents. Many car manufacturers are working on all electric cars and most of them have patented their technologies, but a radical shift is needed in strategy to advance development and mass adoption of electric cars and for that purpose Ford has decided to open up some of its patents.

Late last year Tesla announced that it is opening up all of its electric car technology patents for use by anyone as long as they’re used in good faith.

Ford announced today that it’s going to open at least 650 patents related to “electrified vehicle technologies” to other car manufacturers however it’s not taking the “good faith” route, instead the company is going to ask them for an undisclosed fee if they want to use its patented technologies.

Major car manufacturers like Toyota who are also working on similar technologies have yet to adopt this more open stance in order to speed up development of electric cars.

Tesla undoubtedly kicked off this movement and it remains to be seen how many car manufacturers jump on board, even if they ask for license fees.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Transportation
Tags: Electric Cars, ford, patents, Tesla