Commentators have hailed it as ushering in a third Industrial Revolution. President Obama cited it as having the potential to create new waves of job growth. Media outlets report on its new applications—from commercial manufacturing to organ transplantation to weapons production—on a daily basis. Three-dimensional printing is finally coming center stage.
What implications does 3-D printing hold for intellectual property rights? A closer look suggests that, while 3-D printing is having its greatest impact in commercial applications, widespread consumer adoption is still a ways off. In the short term, this will likely blunt the degree of intellectual property theft and limit most disputes to those between companies designing and manufacturing the printers, as opposed to battles between intellectual property holders and consumers. As the technology becomes more sophisticated and as adoption becomes more widespread, though, intellectual property fights between companies and consumers will accelerate.
WHAT IS 3-D PRINTING?
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