Just read the history of King To Nin Jiom. Might be one of the earliest open-source movements in China?

It's said the recipe was created by a famous doctor when a man tries desperately to find a cure for his mother. The recipe works so well and totally heals the disease that the mother sighed after surviving the disaster: When I was ill in the past, I was in unspeakable pain and just wanted to die quickly. Unexpectedly, I took this ointment, which cured my chronic illness and allowed me to enjoy life again and live out my life. The work of the celestial being is like giving me a new life. You should make more of this ointment and give it away so that people with the same disease in the world can help them overcome their suffering. This will be a way of repaying my kindness. (This part is translated from ancient Chinese by Google. I can read ancient Chinese, but google Translate will make things much easier)

Of course, the man followed his mother's will. The man set up a temple in Beijing, that's where the King To part of name comes. The Nin jiom is the name of the temple, which means to commemorate the loving mother. The man gives the medicine for free, along with the recipe.

Later, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the son of that man decided to give both the trademark (the name) and the recipe to Xie Zhaobang, the owner of Zhongzheng Pharmacy, to prevent the recipe from becoming extinct, which would go against their ancestral teachings. And that pharmacy becomes the company now who produces it.