IT firms donate patents to green initiative

A BUNCH OF tech heavyweights threw some patents in a pot in an effort to save the planet.

IBM, Sony and Nokia said their patents related to waste reduction, green management, recycling and lower power consumption and urged others to join in.

The initiative is open to any companies or indeed individual holders who have a useful patent lying about the place. It is administered by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) based in Switzerland.

Some 31 patents are so far in the pot, although patent king IBM donated 27 of those.

Dr John E. Kelly, director of IBM Research, reckons the "free exchange of valuable intellectual property will accelerate work on the next level of environmental challenges."

Hopefully, then, there's a patent in there for a device to pull poor people out of stinking flood waters, alter the flow of water around the planet's oceans and turn fresh desert into green fields. µ