"We have essentially no patents in SpaceX. Our primary long-term competition is in China—if we published patents, it would be farcical, because the Chinese would just use them as a recipe book."
I'm sure he's said it a few times. This is the one I was referring to -
> Even more so when he tells us that none of the design innovations in the rocket are patented. “Since our primary competitors are national governments, the enforceability of patents is questionable,”
Source: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/ff-elon-musk-qa/al...