As sustainability continues to percolate in minds of business and technology leaders worldwide, we're witnessing more and more companies stepping up and sharing their resources and brainpower for the greater green good. As sustainability continues to percolate in minds of business and technology leaders worldwide, we’re witnessing more and more companies stepping up and sharing their resources and brainpower for the greater green good.The latest example comes from IBM, who has partnered with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development on an initiative to make publicly available a host of donated “environmentally responsible” patents. Nokia, Sony, and Pitney Bowes have thus far joined the cause.The portfolio of patents, dubbed the Eco-Patent Commons, will “feature innovations focused on environmental matters and innovations in manufacturing or business processes where the solution provides an environmental benefit.” Said benefits might be energy conservation, pollution prevention, usage of environmentally preferable materials, and increased recycling opportunity.“In addition to enabling new players to engage in protecting the environment, the free exchange of valuable intellectual property will accelerate work on the next level of environmental challenges. We strongly urge other companies to contribute to the Eco-Patent Commons,” said Dr. John E. Kelly III, IBM senior VP and director of IBM Research, in a written statement. As I write this, the Eco-Patent Commons contains 31 patents, 27 of which come from Big Blue (known for cranking out patents like bunnies crank out more bunnies). Those include an “apparatus and method for reusing printed media for printing information” and a “system for cleaning contamination from magnetic recording media rows.” Nokia has one on the list (“systems and methods for recycling of cell phones at the end of life”), as does Sony (“flocculating agent and a method for flocculation”). The other two comes from Pitney Bowes (“ink-jet printer having variable maintenance algorithm” and “multiple overload protection for electronic scales”).These companies are the first IT heavyweights to share their resources toward a common green good. Consider the Green Grid, a nonprofit consortium of tech companies that’s focused on developing metrics, standards, and best practices for curbing power consumption.Moreover, Sun last year unveiled OpenEco.org, an online community providing free tools and resources for calculating, tracking, and comparing greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, Cisco has volunteered time and resources to the William J. Clinton Foundation to develop technologies and strategies to help cities reduce their negative impact on the environment. Additional information about the Eco-Patent commons is available on the WBCSD Web site. Related links: Cisco seeds green innovations aimed at climate change Green Grid announces tech forum in February Sun launches community for measuring, comparing GHG emissions Ted Samson is a senior analyst at InfoWorld and author of the Sustainable IT blog. Subscribe to his free weekly Green Tech newsletter. Technology Industry