INFRINGEMENT BY BLUEPRINT: PROTECTING PATENT RIGHTS IN A WORLD OF LOW-COST 3D PRINTING

摘要

3D printing technologies, without exaggeration, have the potential to change the world. From dollhouse furniture to customized tools, the objects traded online by the 3D printing community will continue to challenge many areas of law. The nature of personal 3D printing presents particular challenges for patent law by limiting the direct infringement of objects only to those who actually print the patented objects. Designers and digital blueprint distributors can never be direct infringers unless they print the objects themselves.