注意，特斯拉开放专利留了一手

    开放源码促进会（Open Source Initiative）主席西蒙•菲普斯表示，这种做法会起到效果。他说：“如果你不需要事先去申请许可，那么创新起来就会更容易。”他举了谷歌（Google）的安卓（Android）移动操作系统背后的Linux操作系统的开源软件TomTom和Ubuntu作为例子。其他的开源例子还包括Mozilla基金会的火狐（Firefox）浏览器、LibreOffice文字处理套件，以及主导互联网的Apache网页服务器。

    菲普斯表示，穆斯克就是在效仿这些案例。“他把同样的原理应用到了电动汽车领域，如此一来，他就有机会让这个市场发展到造福所有公司，包括他自己的公司。”

    杰夫说：“对特斯拉和其他厂商而言，这个领域都还有发展空间。特斯拉已经证明了他们的确懂得如何设计和生产汽车。这在奢侈品市场是很难做到的一件事。”

    根据位于华盛顿的律师事务所Oblon Spivak合伙人和专利代理人詹姆斯•勒夫的说法，特斯拉的开源政策在技术界并不是什么前所未闻的事情。

    他说：“特斯拉本质上说的是他们不会攻击性地利用他们的专利，即他们不会起诉侵权。”然而，穆斯克周四的博文中有一项条款，给公司留下了回旋的余地——一个星号，前提是你得有利他行为。

    “特斯拉不会对任何想要善意地使用我们的技术的人发起专利诉讼，” 穆斯克在题为“我们的专利属于你”的博文中如此写道。这个标题是在向上世纪90年代的电子游戏《零翼战机》（Zero Wing）致敬。勒夫说：“这个善意条款给特斯拉留下了余地。如果特斯拉认为侵权者不怀好意的话，他们依然能够发起诉讼。某种意义上说，即他们可以防御性地使用自己的专利。”

    其他科技公司也有关于知识产权的类似举动。2012年，Twitter宣布只会出于自卫目的使用自己的专利权。IBM在近十年前开放了自己的500项软件专利，不过这也并不妨碍它积极护自己其余的专利。2014年1月，Twitter为900项专利向IBM支付了3,600万美元，以避免法律诉讼。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    It’s an approach that works, said Simon Phipps, president of the Open Source Initiative. “It’s easier to innovate if you don’t have to ask for permission first,” he said, citing the open source software led to the Linux operating system that is behind Google’s Android mobile operating system, TomTom and Ubuntu. Others include Mozilla’s Firefox browser, the LibreOffice word processing suite, and the Apache web server that powers the Internet.

    Musk is following those examples, Phipps said. “He’s applying the same principle to electric vehicles and by doing so, he’s likely to grow his market to the benefit of all, including his company,” he said, adding that an expansion of the electric vehicle market would not necessarily threaten Tesla.

    “There’s room for Tesla and everybody else,” Jaffe said. “Tesla has proven that they really know how to design and manufacture a car, and in the luxury market, which is hard to do.”

    Tesla’s open source stance is not unheard of the in the technology industry, according James Love, a partner and patent attorney with Oblon Spivak in Washington D.C.

    “Tesla is essentially saying it won’t use its patents offensively, meaning it won’t sue,” he said. However, one clause in the Musk’s blog post released Thursday leaves the company some wiggle room—an asterisk, if you will, on a seemingly altruistic act.

    “Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology,” Musk wrote in a post entitled “All Our Patent Are Belong to You,” a name that gives homage to the early ‘90s video game Zero Wing.

    “That good faith clause leaves open the possibility that Tesla could sue on the patents if they felt the infringer wasn’t acting in good faith, so in a sense they are using the patents defensively in this way,” Love said.

    Other tech companies have made similar intellectual property moves. In 2012, Twitter announced its patents would only be used for defensive purposes. IBM IBM 0.74% unlocked access to 500 of its software patents nearly a decade ago, however that hasn’t stopped the company from actively protecting its remaining patents. In January 2014, Twitter paid IBM $36 million for 900 patents in order to avoid a lawsuit.