Infringements of intellectual and industrial properties rights in terms of imitations of products are continuously increasing. Massive economic and reputational damages are consequences for concerned companies. One solution to this problem can be the use of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. This production technology enables complex designed products and specific product properties due to the use of different manufacturing processes and materials, which can help preventing product piracy safety measures of products can highly benefit from these capabilities, which have not been possible yet. The layer wise process allows, for example, to implement identifiable marks under the parts surface and to adjust mechanical properties in a certain way. The use of AM can strongly reduce the economic efficiency of plagiarism. This paper will present approaches to product piracy prevention by the use of AM focusing on the tagging of products, preventive measures as well as the interplay of these types.
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