Filed under: intellectual property, technology | Tags: intellectual property, sustainable innovation, technology transfer
Several new patents have been added to the Eco-Patent Commons, an open-source project of the WBCSD dedicated to sustainable technology transfer. Since its launch in 2008, over ten companies from a variety of industries have publicly shared proprietary sustainable innovation for common use: Bosch, Dow, DuPont, Fuji Xerox, IBM, Nokia, Pitney Bowes, Ricoh, Sony, Taisei and Xerox.
Filed under: intellectual property, open source | Tags: creative commons, Eco-Patent Commons, intellectual property, open source, sustainable business
Corporations Go Public with Eco-Friendly Patents
With the launch of the Eco-Patent Commons earlier this week, four companies — IBM, Nokia, Pitney-Bowes and Sony — joined with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development to do something almost unprecedented: they agreed to relinquish their control over inventions that could benefit the planet in order to spur innovation for the greater good.
Inspired by the open source software movement, the Eco-Patent Commons aims to share knowledge as a way to address large-scale problems. IBM, which released 27 patents to the commons this week, has spearheaded the initiative after more than a year of discussion. Link
