It admittedly isn’t the kind of invention marking a radical departure from its previous drone-related innovations, but a recently published US patent application by the Ford Motor Co. does offer additional evidence the automotive giant is intent on integrating UAVs into its future cars and trucks.
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Over two years ago, Tesla open-sourced all its patents for electric vehicles – a surprising announcement in our IP-centric business climate. CEO Elon Musk explained the move as being in line with Tesla’s mission to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport:
“If we’re all in a ship together and the ship has some holes in it, and we’re sort of bailing water out of it, and we have a great design for a bucket, then even if we’re bailing out way better than everyone else, we should probably still share the bucket design.”
We might get access to yet another bucket design thanks to Proterra, a leading manufacturer of all-electric buses. The bus maker announced today that it will be opening its proprietary “on-route fast-charging technology” on a royalty-free basis.
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Electric vehicle startup Faraday Future (FF) applied for more than 100 patents over the last year and today it confirmed having been granted its first one. The patent covers a new assembly process for FF’s power inverter called “FF Echelon Inverter.”
The inverter is surprisingly small (see comparison pictures below) and FF claims it achieves 20-30% greater power density than their competitors’ applications. The company didn’t name any competitor in particular, but Tesla’s Model S inverter has a peak power capability of 320 kW.
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Do you remember when Batman turned a part of the Batmobile into a motorcycle with the touch of a button in The Dark Knight? Well this is like a lame version of that. We learn that Ford patented a concept for an electric car powered by in-wheel electric motors that can turn into a unicycle.
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Over a year after Elon Musk first announced in his now famous “All Our Patent Are Belong To You” blog post that Tesla will be open-sourcing all its patents. We now have the first confirmation that some automakers have actually taken Tesla on the offer.
During an interview with Ron Baron last Friday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk very briefly mentioned for the first time that he believes companies are now using Tesla’s patents:
“I think actually there are a number of companies using our patents.”
Musk’s comment was in response to Baron asking why companies are not taking advantage of Tesla’s technology considering it is “free” and that the company is achieving higher safety and emission standard than the competition.
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A patent troll is currently suing Apple, Samsung and half the automotive industry – as well as other companies – over the use of a vague, decade old patent that covers operating certain functions of a vehicle, like starting the engine and locking/unlocking doors, through a “watch” – now known as a “smartwatch”.
Intellectual Capital Consulting (LCC), the plaintiff in the lawsuit (which we embed below), claims that the defendants are using patented technology in smartwatch products and software that they are selling or contributing to sell.
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In a press release today, Ford announced that they are opening to competitors the patents and patent applications they have for electric vehicles. The move is not unlike what Tesla did last year when they opened all their patents in the spirit of accelerating the advent of electric transport. Here is what Kevin Layden, Ford’s director of Electrification Programs, had to say about the announcement:
Innovation is our goal. The way to provide the best technology is through constant development and progress. By sharing our research with other companies, we will accelerate the growth of electrified vehicle technology and deliver even better products to customers.
