Companies with valuable patents are starting to find philanthropic uses for them, the Associated Press reports. In the latest development, Dow Chemical has given four patents worth approximately $4 million to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The donated patents give RPI rights to protective-coating processes for outdoor plastic products and indoor appliances. Dow officials decided the patents no longer fit the company's long-range plans, AP reports. RPI is marketing licenses to companies interested in using the technology.

Dow isn't the first chemical company this year to donate patents to a technical university. DuPont Co. gave away rights to technology worth an estimated $64 million to the University of Iowa, Penn State University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Companies donating patents can take tax breaks worth one-third the value of the patents, AP reports.

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