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ARTICLE · 13 APRIL 2021

Elon Musk Doesn't Do Patents. Does That Matter?

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Recently, there was a fascinating IP-related article in the Harvard Business Review: "Elon Musk doesn't care about patents.

South AfricaIntellectual Property
Rowan Forster
Rowan Forster
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Recently, there was a fascinating IP-related article in the Harvard Business Review: "Elon Musk doesn't care about patents. Should you?" was always going to enjoy considerable attention. The opening lines very much set the tone: "Ownership seems straightforward in business: Get a patent or copyright when you create something. Charge for its use. Avoid ambiguity about who owns what. But much of this wisdom is wrong."

The authors go on to say that the "world's savviest businesses already know this." They say that HBO tolerates theft, SpaceX forgoes patents, and Airbnb started operating without even knowing whether its product offering was legal. We're introduced to the term "ownership engineering". We're also told about three ownership engineering strategies, namely:

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