Elon Musk is betting on himself avoiding innovation patents

CNBC

Elon Musk is an arrogant bastard - because he's so confident he can stay ahead of the pack, he doesn't even bother to protect his innovations.

Elon appeared on CNBC's "Jay Leno's Garage" Wednesday night, where the 2 boys walked around Elon's SpaceX Starbase facility in Texas and chatted.

At one point, Jay asked if SpaceX had a patent on the materials it uses to build spaceships. Elon's response... "I don't care about patents. Patents are for the weak."

Translated... Elon is okay with competitors catching up with his designs, because he's betting on himself that he'll come up with something even better before they do.

Elon thinks patents are just buzzkill..."They don't really get things done, they just keep others from following you."

Musk has followed his mantra at other companies, including Tesla. In 2014, he sent a memo to Tesla staff, eschewing patents and saying Tesla's innovations are there "to attract and motivate the world's most talented engineers."

He had a few choice words about obtaining such legal protection. "[Patents] simply serve to stifle progress, solidify the positions of giant corporations, and enrich members of the legal profession, rather than the inventors themselves."

This is crap!