TAG | IBM leads Eco-Patent Commons push |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Tuesday, 15 January 2008 | |
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Page 1 of 2 The initial contributors to the Commons are IBM (27 patents), Pitney Bowes (2), Nokia (1) and Sony (1). IBM, the leading generator of US patents, has provided a variety of patents covering manufacturing technologies (eg, solvent recovery, and a water-soluble solder flux), recycling (eg, hard disk recycling, and a method for reusing printed media), and cleaning up waste streams (eg propylene carbonate, photoresists, solder masks, and mercury). John E. Kelly III, senior vice president and director of IBM Research, said "In addition to enabling new players to engage in protecting the environment, the free exchange of valuable intellectual property will accelerate work on the next level of environmental challenges," said John Kelly III, senior vice president and director of IBM Research. "We strongly urge other companies to contribute to the Eco-Patent Commons." Pitney Bowes has chipped in patents covering a maintenance algorithm for inkjet printers that takes into account usage patterns, and a design for multiple overload protections for scales. Presumably the environmental contribution of the latter is that it reduces waste due to broken scales. CONTINUES |
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