Geneva – The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) announced on July 1 that HP has joined the Eco-Patent Commons. HP has contributed three patents to this unique initiative aimed at making patents freely available to enable the development of products that protect the environment.
The three patents being contributed by HP are:
- A convenient self-contained battery recycling station that will encourage consumers to exchange their used batteries for new ones or for credit
- A weld process monitoring system that will reduce the resource and energy consumption associated with bad welds on assembly lines
- A process that eliminates the need for anti-oxidant metal coatings (such as gold) during certain stages of micro-chip and circuit-board assembly
“We are very pleased that HP has joined this initiative and made multiple patents available,” said Björn Stigson, President of the WBCSD. “The premise of the Commons is that the free sharing of these patents leads to new collaborations and innovation aimed at helping others become more eco-efficient and/or operate in a more sustainable way.”
The Eco-Patent Commons
The Eco-Patent Commons, launched by IBM, Nokia, Pitney Bowes and Sony in partnership with the WBCSD, is a unique business initiative designed to foster eco-efficiency and environmental sustainability through the pledging of environmentally beneficial patents to the public domain. The Eco-Patent Commons also enables collaboration between companies that foster new innovations.
Since the launch in January 2008, over a hundred patents have been made available that benefit the environment in areas such as energy efficiency and conservation, waste reduction and recycling. Patents pledged to the Eco-Patent Commons may involve innovations directly related to environmental solutions or may be innovations in manufacturing or business processes where the solution also provides an environment benefit, such as pollution prevention or the more efficient use of materials or energy. The contributing companies represent a variety of industries worldwide and include: Bosch, Dow, DuPont, Fuji Xerox, HP, IBM, Nokia, Pitney Bowes, Ricoh, Sony, Taisei and Xerox.
Membership in the Eco-Patent Commons is open to all individuals and companies willing to pledge their patents. The selection and submission of patents for pledging is at an organization’s discretion. Member companies and the WBCSD invite other interested companies to become members of the Eco-Patent Commons and participate in this initiative promoting innovation and collaboration to help protect the planet.
The pledged portfolio and instructions on how to become a member are available on a dedicated web site: www.wbcsd.org/web/epc/
About the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development is a CEO-led, global coalition of some 200 companies committed to sustainable development. Its aim is to be a catalyst for change within business and society. The WBCSD provides a platform to share best practices and advocate business positions on sustainability issues, working with governments, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations.
Members are drawn from over 35 countries and represent annual revenues of USD 7 trillion. The WBCSD also benefits from a network of 60 national and regional business councils and partner organizations, a majority if which are based in developing countries. For more information, visit www.wbcsd.org
Source: WBCSD Press Release dated July 1, 2010.
