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Why Elon Musk says 'patents are for the weak'

5 points by isaacfrond 4y ago

bediger4000 4y ago
Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, so maybe there's something to this. It does contradict accepted wisdom.
jfengel 4y ago
That's kind of the point, isn't it? Patents were invented so that small inventors could put their minds to work, without money or access to the full set of manufacturing apparatus. The prototypical patent was a tinkerer who could improve a steam engine or sewing machine, obtain a patent, and then sell the idea to manufacturer. It was parallel with copyright, which allowed people to write books without access to printing. (Shakespeare's plays were known only in unofficial editions during his lifetime, printed legally from the memories of actors who wrote them down, and Shakespeare saw no money from it.) We're a long way from the days of steam engines, and it's certainly time to reconsider the purpose of patents. But the "weak" independent inventor still exists, and there probably ought to be some kind of protection for them. Because Musk isn't weak, and he'd happily take any invention he wanted if it wasn't legally protected. Everybody without access to a complete, vertically integrated manufacturing process is "weak" -- and that means everyone but him.
nikau 4y ago
Guess Elon has been watching Lucids recent videos on their motor technology...
NickRandom 4y ago
Huh... A quick search brought up more than a few Tesla patents so as per normal Elon's mouth spouts his usual crap [0] [0] https://patents.justia.com/company/tesla https://patents.justia.com/company/tesla
- rogerkirkness 4y ago
  Tesla allows other companies good faith use of their patents and do not enforce people using their patents.
jleyank 4y ago
You can use patents. You can rely on trade secrets. You can try to use complexity and obfuscation. You can open source your work. Or, just go “hey, that’s mine”. I suspect EM is using whatever it takes to protect his pile. Talk’s cheap, except on Compuserve. Don’t feed or listen to trolls, even interesting ones.

5 points by isaacfrond 4y ago

Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, so maybe there's something to this. It does contradict accepted wisdom.

That's kind of the point, isn't it? Patents were invented so that small inventors could put their minds to work, without money or access to the full set of manufacturing apparatus. The prototypical patent was a tinkerer who could improve a steam engine or sewing machine, obtain a patent, and then sell the idea to manufacturer. It was parallel with copyright, which allowed people to write books without access to printing. (Shakespeare's plays were known only in unofficial editions during his lifetime, printed legally from the memories of actors who wrote them down, and Shakespeare saw no money from it.) We're a long way from the days of steam engines, and it's certainly time to reconsider the purpose of patents. But the "weak" independent inventor still exists, and there probably ought to be some kind of protection for them. Because Musk isn't weak, and he'd happily take any invention he wanted if it wasn't legally protected. Everybody without access to a complete, vertically integrated manufacturing process is "weak" -- and that means everyone but him.

nikau 4y ago

Guess Elon has been watching Lucids recent videos on their motor technology...

NickRandom 4y ago

Huh... A quick search brought up more than a few Tesla patents so as per normal Elon's mouth spouts his usual crap [0] [0] https://patents.justia.com/company/tesla https://patents.justia.com/company/tesla

rogerkirkness 4y ago
Tesla allows other companies good faith use of their patents and do not enforce people using their patents.

jleyank 4y ago

You can use patents. You can rely on trade secrets. You can try to use complexity and obfuscation. You can open source your work. Or, just go “hey, that’s mine”. I suspect EM is using whatever it takes to protect his pile. Talk’s cheap, except on Compuserve. Don’t feed or listen to trolls, even interesting ones.