Oh, patents! TESLA’s falcon-wing doors

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Surprisingly, Elon Musk, space exploration visionary and electric car guru, founder and CEO of SpaceX(1) and TESLA(2), appears to have patented few inventions for fear of fierce competition from China. In Musk's own words : 

“We have essentially no patents. Our primary long-term competition is China. If we published patents, it would be farcical, because the Chinese would just use them as a recipe book.” [quoted in Heller & Salzman, 2021]

Perhaps that Musk has a point, considering the US Patent Rules for filing utility patent applications that require a description of the invention:

 “[...] in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which the invention or discovery appertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same." (US CFR 37: 1.70)

On the other hand, in the spirit of the Open Source movement, Musk posted on the TESLA Motors Inc.  blog (June 12, 2014):

 “Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology” [Musk, June 12, 2014] 

thus releasing TESLA’s patent portfolio to “The Commons”.

Explaining himself, Musk was actually arguing precisely according to patent specification rules that the disclosure of his inventions might indeed promote and advance the development of electric vehicles, considering the tremendous resistance to electric vehicles that then existed. Contrary to other domains of inventions, TESLA’s intellectual property was not even at risk of being stolen by larger multinational car manufacturing corporations. Noone was buying into electric vehicles. Thus, oddly enough, consistent with a positive take on disclosing inventions within the context of patents, it was hoped that foregoing the rights to awarded intellectual property would actually accelerate the company’s vision of sustainable transportation, in a world confronted with climate change. Indeed, the move was fearless.

In any event, a search (this day) for patents assigned to TESLA Motors Inc., at the USPTO, retrieved several hundred US design and utility patents combined (407 to be precise) and many more using Google Patents. Far less patents appeared assigned to the more recent Space Exploration Technologies Corp., via both Google Patents and direct USPTO search (8 patents and 19 pending applications) (3).

The following US design patent, USD678154, titled Vehicle door is one of the  TESLA US design patents, awarded to Elon Reeve Musk.  USD67815 is the design patent that covers one of the most far-out features of the high-end TESLA Model X Electric cars: the falcon-wing doors that lift up to open. 

Below, one of the patent figure drawings, showing a perspective view with the vehicle door mounted in an opened position, together with an image of the marketed TESLA Model X, with falcon-wing doors open. 

 Notes

(1) SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies was awarded NASA partnership contracts within the context of the NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP). NASA contracted SpaceX for the design and manufacture of re-usable spacecraft, intended to transport space crew and goods. Transportation would initially target the International Space Station. In the future, it might be part of missions to build colonies on the Moon, even launchpads to Mars from the Moon, or perhaps the development of space villages and cities, orbiting planet Earth.

(2) TESLA manufactures hi-performance electric cars, together with hi-performance solar installation solutions.

(3) The number of patents retrieved at sites other than the USPTO varies, in part depending on whether just one patent family member is counted, or all of them. Patents are also variously assigned to Tesla Motors Inc.. and Tesla Inc., plus more, which the search engine may, or may not, combine.   

References

Heller, M. and J. Salzman (March 4, 2021) Elon Musk doesn’t care about patents. Should you? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/03/elon-musk-doesnt-care-about-patents-should-you

Musk, E. (June 12, 2014)  All our patent are belong to you. Tesla Motors inc. Blog.                    https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you

NASA Commercial Crew Progam (CCP)    https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

SpaceX https://www.spacex.com/

TESLA https://www.tesla.com/

Title 37 - Code of Federal Regulations Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights (CFR 37), Article 1.70  https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9020-appx-r.html#d0e320131