Book contents
- 3D Printing and Intellectual Property
- Reviews
- 3D Printing and Intellectual Property
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 3D Printing Technology’s Capabilities and Effects
- 2 How 3D Printing Works and Why it Matters
- 3 Primer on Intellectual Property Law
- 4 Can You Patent a 3D Printable File? (and Why it Matters)
- 5 Patents – Direct Infringement, Individual Infringement, and “Digital” Infringement
- 6 Patents – Indirect Infringement and Intermediaries
- 7 3D Printing and Trademarks: The Dissociation Between Design and Manufacturing
- 8 Creativity and Utility: 3D Printable Files and the Boundary Between Copyright and Patent Protection
- 9 Design Rights, Tangibility, and Free Expression
- 10 DMFs and Optimizing Innovation Incentives
- Conclusion
- Index
5 - Patents – Direct Infringement, Individual Infringement, and “Digital” Infringement
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2019
- 3D Printing and Intellectual Property
- Reviews
- 3D Printing and Intellectual Property
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 3D Printing Technology’s Capabilities and Effects
- 2 How 3D Printing Works and Why it Matters
- 3 Primer on Intellectual Property Law
- 4 Can You Patent a 3D Printable File? (and Why it Matters)
- 5 Patents – Direct Infringement, Individual Infringement, and “Digital” Infringement
- 6 Patents – Indirect Infringement and Intermediaries
- 7 3D Printing and Trademarks: The Dissociation Between Design and Manufacturing
- 8 Creativity and Utility: 3D Printable Files and the Boundary Between Copyright and Patent Protection
- 9 Design Rights, Tangibility, and Free Expression
- 10 DMFs and Optimizing Innovation Incentives
- Conclusion
- Index
Summary
Chapter 5 turns to patent infringement. It introduces a fundamental tension between patent holders and good faith users of the technology. 3D printing will expose unsuspecting individuals and 3D print shops to patent infringement liability when they print patented objects. To spare unintentionally infringing individuals and 3D print shops the ruinous costs of litigation, I explore options for exemptions and safe harbors. At the same time, if 3D printing enables massive, individualized manufacturing, and if the law exempts each individual act of infringement, patent rights would be eviscerated. Squaring this circle will not be easy, but the chapter explores ways to alleviate the tension, particularly by strengthening indirect infringement claims and limiting exemptions to cases where the accused infringer had no knowledge of the patent. In addition, Chapter 5 demonstrates that 3D printable files will not infringe traditional patent claims directed to tangible objects. Moreover, the most commonly traded 3D printable file format will not infringe a computer-readable medium (Beauregard) claim. Attempting to alleviate some of the protection gaps for patent holders while balancing the needs of users, the chapter considers a novel theory of “digital patent infringement.”
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- 3D Printing and Intellectual Property , pp. 82 - 103Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019