You Keep Using That Phrase

While I'm on the topic of linguistics I thought I'd note that Tesla Motors' announcement of some form of openness of its patent portfolio is raising some eyebrows. Specifically, it's the part where Elon Musk says:

Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.

If Tesla was really "giving away" its patents, why the "in good faith" qualifier? In the post-announcement Q&A the qualification has been clarified to mean that other companies should be willing to share some of their patents with Tesla in exchange for use of Tesla's patents. Normally we call that "cross-licensing".

Also, a company using Tesla's patents can’t file lawsuits against the electric-car company for patent infringement. Pretty reasonable - that's a standard clause in a patent cross-licensing deal.

“We would not want someone to mimic our car in such a way to deceive customers into whether it is a Tesla,”

which sounds to me like he's talking about design patents or trademark infrinements.

Don't get me wrong - I think Musk's intentions are good and this move is going in the right direction, even if it's largely symbolic. But I don't think it's nearly the big deal it's been hyped to be, and it's definitely not a giveaway.