Toyota Makes Hydrogen Fuel Cell Patents Available Free of Charge

Toyota Motor Corp. announced that it will make thousands of hydrogen fuel cell patents available royalty free. The news came Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Toyota will now allow others the use of approximately 5,680 fuel cell related patents held globally, including critical technologies developed for the new Toyota Mirai, according to a company press release.

“The first generation hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, launched between 2015 and 2020, will be critical, requiring a concerted effort and unconventional collaboration between automakers, government regulators, academia and energy providers, Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations at Toyota Motor Sales, USA. “By eliminating traditional corporate boundaries, we can speed the development of new technologies and move into the future of mobility more quickly, effectively and economically.”

This marks the first time that Toyota has made its patents available free of charge, and is meant to reflect the company’s “aggressive” support for developing a hydrogen-based society, according to the release.

While it may be a first for Toyota, it is not the first time a company has allowed free use of its patents. On June 12, Tesla Motors announced that the company had removed its patents from the lobby of its Palo Alto headquarters. The gesture was symbolic and meant “in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology” Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk wrote at the time.

Toyota has similar hopes for the fuel-cell vehicle business, and will make its patents related to fuel cell vehicles available for royalty-free licenses until the end of 2020, and patents for hydrogen production and supply will remain open for an unlimited duration, according to Toyota.

Likewise, the company will request, but not require, that other companies share their fuel cell-related patents with Toyota for similar royalty-free use.