What would a world without any patents look like? Would industries go into a frenzy, without any legal binding to prevent one company from using an idea from another? Or could no patents possibly lead to a much more beneficial result?
NPR recently posed this question, following news that Tesla, the hottest new company in the car industry, has put its patents in the public domain. This move allows anyone to access Telsa's patents and copy their ideas without legal consequences. Another effect of Tesla's decision is that it has reopened the debate about the usefulness of patents in modern times.
Below-- listen to the audio file of the original NPR story that aired on July 17, 2014.
Not working? Click the link to the original story here.
To see a list of patents released from Tesla, click here.
Readers! The library has books on this topic too, in print and ebook form! Click here!