Musk: Tesla Going Open Source, Lifting Patents 'In Good Faith'

Tesla Motors, the California electric-car maker, won't participate in a patent war over electric cars and associated technology, as it runs counter to the success of EVs.

It's one of the messages conveyed in a terse post from CEO Elon Musk on the Tesla Motors Blog. And it could be good news for electric-car drivers, and the electric-car market.

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In the post, from this morning, Musk said that Tesla's wall of patents has been removed, “in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.”

“Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology,” Musk continued, explaining that he soured with patents after his first company, Zip2.

Tesla CEO: Patents stifle progress

While patents might have been good in the past, Musk argued, they too often today serve to stifle progress, entrench giant corporations, and pad lawyers' pockets. “After Zip2, when I realized that receiving a patent really just meant that you bought a lottery ticket to a lawsuit, I avoided them whenever possible.”