LAS VEGAS—Taking a page from Tesla's book, Toyota today made more than 5,000 of its fuel cell patents available royalty-free.

The patents will be available to automakers that produce and sell fuel-cell vehicles, as well as to fuel-cell parts suppliers and energy companies that establish and operate fueling stations. The list includes around 5,680 fuel cell-related patents, including key technologies developed for the new Toyota Mirai, which is slated for release in the U.S. this October, starting at $57,500.

Toyota said roughly 1,970 of the patents relate to fuel cell stacks, 290 are associated with high-pressure hydrogen tanks, 3,350 are related to fuel-cell system software control, and 70 relate to hydrogen production and supply. The patents can be used royalty-free through the "initial market introduction period" of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, expected to last through 2020, Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations at Toyota Motor Sales, said here at CES.

The move comes after Tesla in June announced that it will not file any lawsuits against companies that want to use its patented technology for electric vehicles.

"We believe real change requires collaboration," Carter said, adding that Toyota believes that hydrogen will replace oil as the primary fuel over the next 100 years. But this vision is contingent upon the creation of an extensive network of hydrogen fueling stations.

One person who supports Toyota's vision of a hydrogen society: famed physicist Michio Kaku. On stage at Toyota's press conference, Kaku said it seems that every 20 years a car marker announces that in 20 years we'll have the first commercially available fuel-cell car. Now, it's actually happening.

"Today, we're present at the creation of a new age" he said. "We're leaving the age of hydrocarbons and entering the age of hydrogens, creating a non-polluting society."

He predicted that the proliferation of fuel-cell vehicles will be a social, environmental, and economic "game changer."

Announced in November, the Mirai is a four-door, mid-size sedan that is powered by hydrogen, can re-fuel in just 3 to 5 minutes, and travel up to 300 miles on a full tank. The Mirai's front wheels are driven by electric motors; the electricity is made on-board, on-demand as needed by combining hydrogen with oxygen, producing zero emissions other than water vapor, Carter said. In the event of an emergency, the car can act as a back-up generator, powering everything in your home for up to a week.