Ford Offers Electric Vehicle Technology Patents to Competitors

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by | May 29, 2015

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Ford logoFord Motor Company is allowing competitors to purchase its electrified vehicle technology patents in an effort to help accelerate industry-wide research and development of electrified vehicles.

In 2014, Ford filed more than 400 patents dedicated to electrified vehicle technologies. This is more than 20 percent of the patents the company filed, totaling more than 2,000 applications.

Ford offers six hybrid or fully electrified vehicles including Ford Focus Electric, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid, Ford C-MAX Hybrid, Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. In total, Ford has more than 650 electrified vehicle patents and approximately 1,000 pending patent applications on electrified vehicle technologies.

To access Ford’s patents and published patent applications, interested parties can contact the company’s technology commercialization and licensing office, or work through AutoHarvest, an automaker collaborative innovation and licensing marketplace. AutoHarvest allows members to showcase capabilities and technologies, then privately connect with fellow inventors to explore technology and business development opportunities.

Ford’s announcement follows similar moves by other auto manufacturers. Earlier this year Toyota made available thousands of hydrogen fuel cell patents royalty free. In 2014, Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a blog wrote that the patents for his company’s electric vehicle technology “belong to you” and in an attempt to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission vehicles “Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.”

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