Bosch, DuPont, Xerox Pledge Technology to Eco-Patent Commons

Bosch (ZEX.DE), DuPont (NYSE:DFT) and Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) have joined the Eco-Patent Commons, a first-of-its-kind business effort to help the environment by pledging environmentally-beneficial patents to the public domain.

The newly pledged patents include a Xerox technology that significantly reduces the time and cost of removing hazardous waste from water and soil; a technology developed by DuPont that converts certain non-recyclable plastics into beneficial fertilizer; and automotive technologies from Bosch that help lower fuel consumption, reduce emissions, or convert waste heat from vehicles into useful energy.

The Eco-Patent Commons, launched by IBM (NYSE:IBM), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) and Sony (NYSE: SNE) in partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in January 2008, provides an opportunity for global business to share innovation in support of sustainable development.

The objectives of the Eco-Patent Commons are to facilitate the use of existing technologies to protect the environment, and encourage collaboration between businesses that foster new innovations.

Today’s pledges more than double the number of environmentally friendly patents available to the public. 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 environmental benefit, such as pollution prevention or the more efficient use of materials or energy.

Since the launch of the Eco-Patent Commons in January, many of the patent holders have been contacted directly about their patents and at least three patents have already been used by others. "We are pleased that the commons is beginning to have an impact," said Bjorn Stigson, president of the WBCSD. "We hope it will be a positive contribution to the challenge of technology diffusion around the world."