Tesla Motors: Copy Us if You Want

2014-08-06

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TESLAMOTORS:COPYUSIFYOUWANT

JEAN-FRANÇOISJOURNAULTANDJEAN-SÉBASTIENRODRIGUEZPAQUETTE*
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AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS

OnJune12th,ElonMusk,CEOoftheTeslaMotorsautomaker,issuedareleaseon
thecompany’swebsiteannouncingthe“freeing”ofTeslapatentsinordertoallow
competitorstousethem.
Morespecifically,thehigh-endelectricautomakerwillretainitspatentrights,butwill
committonotinitiatecourtproceedingsagainstpotentialcompetitors.Inreturn,these
competitorswillhavetoagreewiththe“opensource”visionofTeslaMotorsby
freeingtheirownpatents.
Inhisrelease,Mr.MuskmentionedthatTeslaMotorswascreatedwiththemissionto
acceleratetheadventofsustainabletransportandtoclearapathtothecreationof
compellingelectricvehicles.However,accordingtoMusk,inordertocarryoutthis
mission,thecompanymustavoidusingintellectualpropertyassetstocreatebarriers
forthosewhoarefollowinginitsfootsteps.
Thisannouncementledsometoquestionthereasoningbehindinvestinginapatent
onlytoallowcompetitorstousethepatentedtechnologyforfree.Inotherwords,
woulditnothavebeenbettertosavemoneybynotpatentingthetechnologyinthe
firstplace?
Toanswerthisquestion,itisworthrememberingthatapatentcanbeusednotonly
asanoffensiveweaponagainstthosewhocopyorusetheprotectedtechnology,but
canalsobeusedasadefensiveweapontocounterattackincaseofapotential
prosecutionfromcompetitors.ThisiswhyTeslaMotorswillmaintainownershipofits
patents,althoughthecompanyclaimsthatitwillnotusethemagainstitscompetitors.
Inaddition,somesourcesindicatethatTeslausesitspatentsasaleveragetoobtain
financing.Tesla’spatentscouldalsobeusedasabargainingchipinnegociations
surroundingalawsuit.
Itappearsthatthishighlypublicizeddecisionhastwodistinctaspects.Ononehand,
itdemonstratesthatthecompanyanditsCEOarelosingfaithintheU.S.patent
systemwhich,accordingtoMr.Musk,interfereswithitsprimarymissionbyslowing

©CIPS,2014.*FromROBIC,LLP,amultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheSummer2014(Vol.18,no.1)Newsletterofthefirm.Publication068.177E.

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downtechnologicalprogress,entrenchingthepositionsofgiantcorporationsand
enrichinglawyers.
Ontheotherhand,thisstrategicchoicecouldbeawisebusinessdecision.By
allowingitscompetitiontoadoptitstechnology,TeslaMotorsishopingthatits
revolutionarychargingtechnologywillbecomethestandardintheelectriccar
industry.Thisway,theCaliforniancompanywillbesurethatnoneofitscompetitors
willdevelopanewstandardcapableofpushingTelsaMotorsoutofitsownmarket.
Inotherwords,TelsaMotorsmayhavelearnedfromerrorsmadeinthepastbyother
standards-relatedcompanies,suchasBeta-MaxandHDDVD,whichwerereplaced
bytheVHSandBlu-Raystandards.
Isthisthebeginningofaneweraforthefreedomofuseofpatentedtechnology?Itis
stilltooearlytodrawanyconclusions,butwehopethatthisannouncementwillgivea
strongboosttotheelectriccarmarket!

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transfers;e-commerce,distributionandbusinesslaw;marketing,publicityand
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