Last month, 31 patents related to environmentally beneficial technologies were released into the public domain. Four big companies, in partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, have published information on a website about processes and devices they've invented, giving free access to the public.

It's the start of a project called the Eco-Patent Commons, with hopes that many more patents will be released by a variety of companies.

 

"The premise here is that, in the environmental arena, sharing knowledge and technology has the great potential to address the world's problems," Wayne Balta, IBM's vice president of Environmental Affairs, told GreenBiz, "and there exists no organized way today to do this on a global basis." -- GreenBiz

Patents contributed to the Commons include methods of recyling cell phone components into other electronic devices, a cardboard packaging structure for delicate electronics designed to replace styrofoam, and a cleaning process using ozone gas rather than chemicals.

The approach is being pitched to companies as a way to do good for the environment at relatively little cost:

The Commons concept recognizes that some patents that provide environmental benefit may represent the jewels of a company's kingdom.

Asking an enterprise to relinquish such key assets is not the objective of the Commons. However, leading businesses may hold some patents that provide environmental benefit and do not represent an essential source of business advantage for them. Though these patents may provide nominal license or exclusivity potential for companies, they may provide greater value in a public commons.

As has been demonstrated by the open source software community, the free sharing of knowledge can provide a fertile ground for new collaboration and innovation. Sharing environmental patents can help others become more eco-efficient and operate in a more environmentally sustainable manner — enabling technology innovation to meet social innovation. -- WBCSD

The Wall Street Journal notes the larger context:

Intellectual property rights to technology that solves environmental problems have been a contentious issue in negotiations over the Kyoto Protocol -- which attempts to combat global warming -- with U.S. negotiators resisting proposals to force companies to give away technology. John Coequyt, energy policy specialist with the Washington office of Greenpeace, an environmental group, said that the commons is "potentially a way to solve the problem by voluntary action." -- WSJ

The quote from Coequyt seems strange to me. On the one hand, this voluntary program is worth applauding -- the companies' choices to make the patents available may result in significant environmental benefits that wouldn't have occured if they'd kept the technology to themselves. But relying on companies to voluntarily release patents -- likely only the ones that they don't expect to make much money on -- doesn't seem like it has much of a chance of solving the problems of increasing the availability and affordability of green technology worldwide.

What do you think about this project specifically, and the issues of green technology and intellectual property in general?