On the 12th June 2014, Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of the electric car manufacturer, Tesla Motors, announced in a blog that ‘all our patents belong to you.’ He explained that the company would adopt an open source philosophy in respect of its intellectual property in order to encourage the development of the industry of electric cars, and address the carbon crisis. Elon Musk made the dramatic, landmark announcement: Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology. Elon Musk observed that ‘Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport.’ He maintained: ‘If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal.’ Elon Musk promised: ‘Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.’ This statement has attracted a wide range of interest, because it raises important issues in respect of intellectual property; open source strategies; business; and innovation in clean technologies to address climate change.