Tesla open-sources its patents

On 12 June 2014, Musk published a blog post with the playful title "All Our Patent Are Belong To You," announcing that Tesla would not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wanted to use its technology.

It was an almost unheard-of move in a patent-obsessed industry. Musk's argument was that the real threat to Tesla wasn't competition but the slow pace of the entire world's transition away from fossil fuels. Hoarding patents, he wrote, only "stifles progress" — and Tesla's mission would be better served by a large, fast-growing electric vehicle industry built on a common technological foundation.

The gesture reframed Tesla not as a company trying to corner the EV market, but as one trying to grow it. It remains one of the clearest illustrations that Tesla's stated mission — accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy — is more than a slogan.