Priming the Pump: Toyota to Share Fuel Cell Patents Free of Charge

This innovation leadership thing can be lonely - and expensive. 

Toyota appears to have learned a lesson from Sony's experience a generation ago with the Betamax versus VHS. In that case, which has now been taught as cautionary business case for years, Sony thought it had the superior technology for recording and replaying videos. And it may well have. But its competitors, led by JVC, had a superior partnership, which offered them the sustainable advantage: scale.

Toyota believes that its hydrogen model is better than the electric alternative to powering autos. And again, maybe it is. But it is also considerably more expensive, less well understood, not as well developed a market and otherwise a bit of an outlier. These are all disadvantages as consumers are still tentative about alternate fuels. Since Toyota is already a major player in the electric car market, it may be hedging its bets with hydrogen. But it has now decided to give the odds a nudge by making its patents - almost 6,000 of them - available for free.

The strategy, not unfamiliar to those who may remember a previous tech movement - open source - is to create demand by reducing barriers to entry. Though an imperfect analogy, the notion is that volume will eventually make the investment popular - and profitable.  

This is also a not-so-subtle reminder - as if one were needed - that the billions spent on patent litigation ultimately delivered very little, which is why Apple, Samsung, Google and others largely abandoned them. Toyota's decision may not make hydrogen fuel cells the energy choice of the future, but it improves their chances of becoming a viable alternative. JL

Sean Cooper reports in Engadget:

With more partners on board Toyota may hope to see new cars and infrastructure for fueling and hydrogen production grow to catch the electric world. An electric charging station can cost as little as tens of thousands of dollars, a hydrogen station rings in at $1 or $2 million.

Toyota's apparently hedging it's bet in the hybrid world by also gambling on a hydrogen-powered future. In an apparent attempt to drum up some development support, all 5,680 or so of Toyota's FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) patents developed for and in support of the Mirai are being tossed out to the world for use royalty-free. Included are some 1,970 patents related to fuel cell stacks, 290 to high-pressure hydrogen tanks, 3,350 involving the software to manage the system and a further 70 for production and supply. The fuel cell patents around the actual cars will remain royalty-free until 2020, while the others around production and supply will stay royalty-free for an unlimited time.
Obviously with more partners on board (aside from those already prepped to join the game like Honda, BMW, Hyundai and GM) Toyota may hope to see new cars and infrastructure for fueling and hydrogen production grow to catch the electric world. Considering that an electric charging station can cost as little as tens of thousands of dollars, a hydrogen station rings in at $1 or $2 million. While Toyota's cars are just about here -- albeit only in California -- there's no denying that the consumer's primary barrier to access for hydrogen cars (before price of purchase) even in that state, will be refueling infrastructure. We're big on the concept and familiarity that hydrogen fueling and driving brings, but we think that tech still has a long road ahead and initiatives like this are what it needs to make that push stick.