Page 2 - IP

2 | Monday, august 4, 2014 | Intellectual Property
| nylj.com

Beyond Patents: 3D Printing and IP
of a range of other materials.

• Multi-jet modelling (MJM)—builds up
objects from successive layers of powder,
with an inkjet-like print head used to spray on
a binder solution that glues only the required
granules together.4
Expensive industrial printers have long
taken advantage of these technologies. Much
of the attention 3D printing has generated in
the last years has occurred because patent

expirations and lowering of key component
parts like lasers (associated with Blu-ray
mass production) now make it possible to
offer consumers models—many that cost less
than $1,000—based on industrial 3D printing
technologies.
Currently, plastic, metal and metal alloys
dominate the commercial 3D printing market,
including the home market. But research labs

across the country have begun experimenting
with everything from li ving human cells to
bacteria, microscopic electrodes, and semi-
conductors. Combining these material innova-
tions with 3D printing capabilities, research-
ers have printed everything from a bionic ear
to a lithium-ion microbattery the size of a
grain of sand.5 Researchers at Harvard have

also invented a single fabrication process
that uses a multiple nozzle printer loaded
with different cell tissue and matrix materials
that researchers hope will eventually print
vascularized, fully functional organs.6
CK
Whatever the methodology or material, STO
many 3D printers create the objects they print BIG
using CAD/CAM computer files generated by
a 3D scanner. Most 3D scanners collect visual

data that produces “point clouds”—a set of
data points in some coordinate system—or
voxel (volume element) data that then allow
computer extrapolation of a three-dimension-
al shape. Industrial scanners often combine
robotics and lasers to generate the hundreds By Bryan J. Vogel
secret law benefits and rights from copyright, of an inkjet printer. Several specific printing
of thousands of high-end data points required trade dress and design patent law will all methodologies exist, including:
to produce scans with the precision manufac- T he Gartner analyst group has projected play a role in 3D printing IP disputes. Staying • Stereo lithography (SLA)—uses photo-

turers require. Consumer models—offering a that, by 2018, 3D printing will result in ahead of 3D printing’s financial impact on polymerization of a polymer liquid in coor-
varying degree of accuracy—include hand- global annual IP losses of approximately
IP rights requires an understanding of both dination with a moving platform to produce
held, desktop and mobile phone/tablet app $100 billion.1 Patent disputes will certainly make the multiple technologies at stake as well as successive horizontal “slices” of a three-
and accessory scanners. As with 3D printers, up a significant portion of those controversies. the IP issues 3D printing innovations raise.
dimensional object.
the greater affordability of lasers attributable In the last decade, the Patent and Trademark • Fused deposition modeling (FDM)—uses
to Blu-ray advancements has helped to make
Office has received more than 6,800 3D printing/ 3D Printing Innovations: a heated extrusion nozzle print head to feed
additive manufacturing patent applications,2 metal wire or thermoplastic to a print head
and many key 3D printing industry patents Machines, Materials, Modeling
producing fairly robust objects to a high
have or will expire in 20143—meaning battles degree of accuracy.
Bryan J. Vogel, a trial lawyer and partner in the
New York office of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, is for patent rights cannot be far behind.
3D printing—also known as additive • Selective laser sintering (SLS)—builds
a registered patent attorney practicing in a broad But the IP issues in 3D printing will not be manufacturing—create physical objects objects by using a laser to selectively fuse
range of industries, including 3D printing/additive limited to patent disputes. Changing patent by depositing successive layers of mate- together successive layers of a cocktail of
manufacturing.
laws as well as renewed interest in trade
rial in a manner often likened to the work
powdered wax, ceramic, metal, nylon or one

Inside
Intellectual Property

S
4 Patent Act Fee S
Shifting Decisions 6 Patent Indefiniteness 8 Using General
Focus on Discretion, After ‘Nautilus’
Liability Insurance kris Fischer, Editor-In-Chief

Deference
By ognIan V. shentoV
Policies to Cover IP Claims angela turturro, Sections Editor
By roBert M. Isackson By alan s. hock
rafal Pytel, Design
Sand Ilene alBala

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