A new commons sprouts for green innovation

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Some of the world’s best inventions were built upon existing ideas. Take the Internet for example. What began as three computers has expanded into a global system of networks spawning some of the most innovative companies of the last two decades. This swift progress was made possible by a mutual exchange of ideas in a common space. What if this idea of shared resources expanded into other areas of the marketplace? Imagine big companies voluntarily sharing their patents with Oregon colleges and universities or small entrepreneurs in order to encourage sustainable innovation. That’s the idea behind GreenXchange (GX) — a new marketplace where companies can share intellectual property for the benefit of the common good.

With its roots in Oregon, GX began as a partnership between Nike and Creative Commons and has expanded to include eight additional leading organizations including Yahoo!, Best Buy, IDEO, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, nGenera, Outdoor Industry Association, salesforce.com and 2degrees. These 10 founding partners share a deep commitment to the power of open innovation, a concept that promotes collaboration on shared challenges. This new approach to business allows companies to build upon external ideas and patents to advance their own technologies and products, as well as share internal ideas and patents with other companies to facilitate sustainable innovation. By sharing ideas and resources, companies can reduce costs and wasteful duplication of efforts, while helping drive innovation across industries.

Don Tapscott, chairman of nGenera Insight and co-creator of GX along with Nike’s Sustainable Business and Innovation Lab, describes GX as “the new commons.” He says, “by applying open innovation to sustainability it will contribute not just to the heath and well being of our planet but also to the cost control and competitiveness of its member companies.”

But how does it work? Say Mountain Equipment Co-Op wants to see if it is feasible use Nike’s green rubber, a resource Nike uses to make its biodegradable shoe outsoles, to make bicycle inner tubes. Through GX, Nike could license its green rubber patent to Mountain Equipment Co-Op who, in turn, uses the technology to reduce its carbon footprint and deliver a greener product to its consumers.

Of course, that’s just one way that GX can work. GX uses a three-tiered approach to encourage collaboration through IP sharing. The first tier promotes non-commercial research on patented technologies across academic and non-profit institutions. This opens the door for Oregon colleges and universities and non-profit organizations around the world to use intellectual property in multiple research capacities.

The second and third tier approach addresses the commercial use of patents through licensing. The Standard License encourages companies to provide patents without a fee, therefore promoting the use of sustainable technologies while driving down the cost of resources for all involved. Finally, the Semi-Standard License allows exclusions on offerings so that only certain industries would have commercial access to its patents.

This multi-level system gives companies control over their patent portfolios while allowing IP access to the public for the greater good. In the end, participating companies aren’t giving away their patents, they’re improving them. This firm belief has already led Nike to place over 400 of its patents on GX for non-commercial research.

For Oregon businesses, GX creates a level playing field by inviting non-traditional players to the game. Small businesses and garage entrepreneurs are able to bring creative ideas to the table and work with large companies to create new solutions to old challenges. It’s a win-win situation.

By making intellectual property transparent and accessible, we accelerate the development of green innovation. With the launch of GX in April 2010, we will be on our way to a more sustainable future.

Kelly Lauber is the director of Nike’s Sustainable Business Lab.