tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695115553547958162024-03-06T03:46:02.908-05:00SolidWild-We will guide your project from the concept sketch through the CAD design, physical prototyping stages and finally we will make sure that it is ready for the full production...Solid D3sign & Wild 3D!-Your Design in Your Hands,That`s S O L I D !SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-62381240705448868242011-01-13T19:14:00.001-05:002011-01-13T19:14:46.041-05:00Stratasys FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) 3D Printer<div class='posterous_autopost'><p>embed id=VideoPlayback src=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-815854980975537613&hl=en&fs=true style=width:400px;height:326px allowFullScreen=true allowScriptAccess=always type=application/x-shockwave-flash> </embed></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/stratasys-fdm-fused-deposition-modeling-3d-pr">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-34359778042715521162011-01-13T08:24:00.001-05:002011-01-13T08:24:53.949-05:00Fab-Enabled Fiction: Books That 3D Print<div class='posterous_autopost'> <div><span class="thumbnail-image-float-left ssNonEditable" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px;"><span><a href="http://fabbaloo.com/blog/2011/1/10/fab-enabled-fiction-books-that-print.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Fabbaloo+%28Fabbaloo%29&utm_content=Twitter" style="text-decoration: none; color: #0000ff;"><img src="http://fabbaloo.com/storage/thumbnails/5460178-10041105-thumbnail.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1293998079747" alt="" style="text-decoration: none; border: 1px solid #cccccc;" /></a></span></span><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;">Guest writer Andrew Monti proposes a unique way to use 3D printing in the publishing industry: Fabbed items from books. The idea is to include a QR code somewhere in a book that corresponds to a URL holding a 3D design. The design can then be printed. But how would it work in a book? Andrew writes:</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;"><em>In its time, Infocom was a fabulously innovative company. Not only did they develop a core platform for developing interactive fiction (the aptly-named “Z[ork]-machine”), they produced a bevy of incredible adventures, all possessing the highest resolution graphics available – your imagination. As the Infocom designers became more creative, they started developing ‘clue’ books to help their readers through especially frustrating parts of the adventure. Eventually, the designers started including physical objects with their games; buttons, maps, pens, keychains, etc. Some were just for promotion, but some were actually clues vital to completing the game.</em></span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;"><em>Fast forward 25 years, add a touch of fabbing, and voila – fabbed clues! Interactive fiction authors now have a way of adding physical clues to their stories or games without actually having to develop and distribute the objects - not a bad way to generate interest in a new game. Maybe fabbing enthusiasts can join a network where readers without printers can find nearby printer (for a small fee).</em></span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;"><em>This model can be extended to authors of every genre. Here are some ‘fictional’ examples:</em></span></div> <p /> <div> <ul style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2em;"> <li><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;"><em>The latest thriller novel can print objects found to enhance the reading experience (and possibly solve riddles)</em></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;"><em>Children’s books can print a key object in the story as a keepsake </em></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;"><em>Home repair books can print some of the handy parts and tools</em></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;"><em>Artists and designers can publish books that can reproduce parts of their art</em></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;"><em>Game books can print game pieces and accessories</em></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;"><em>Older books can gain new life by being ‘print-enabled’ by including models for objects in the text</em></span></li> </ul> </div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;">Andrew points out that it's possible such objects might be copied and made generally available, but we think this is not as big a challenge as the object's value is ultimately tied to the experience of reading the book. Electronic books could simply include the 3D model as an attachment. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: medium; color: #999999;">We think this is yet another example of the infinite possibilities that are opened up by 3D printing. What do you think of this idea? Would you like to print and touch items from the story you're reading?</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: small; color: #999999;">via Fabbaloo</span></div> <p> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/fab-enabled-fiction-books-that-3d-print">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-73156743171498340472010-12-15T21:08:00.001-05:002010-12-15T21:08:25.000-05:00Additive Manufacturing Technology Expands<div class='posterous_autopost'> <h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <h2 style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px;">Objet, EOS, Z Corp. and 3D Systems introduce new technology at Euromold</h2> <p /> </span></h2> <h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #888888;">Several suppliers introduced new technology at Euromold this month that reduces costs and boosts capability for additive manufacturing equipment.</span><p /><span style="color: #888888;"><a href="http://www.objet.com/" style="font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Objet Geometries</a> of Rehovot, Israel introduced a new family of desktop 3-D printers (Objet24 and Objet30), starting at $19,900. The company also demonstrated advanced materials featuring clear transparency, high-temperature resistance and ABS-like quality.</span><p /><span style="color: #888888;">Objet CEO David Reis says, "Our new family of desktop 3D printers is the first high resolution 3-D printer with a low price tag and exceptional ease of use - making it ideal for office printing and opening up a new world of opportunities for designers and engineers."</span><p /><span style="color: #888888;">The new clear material means customers can print thin, transparent parts which previously had to be outsourced to service providers.</span></h2> <h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #888888;"> <table border="0" align="left" style="font-size: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; border-collapse: separate; float: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px solid black;"> <tr style="font-size: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <td style=""> <span class="photo_caption_block" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"><img class="embeddedObject" title="Additive Manufacturing Technology Expands" src="http://www.designnews.com/photo/287/287706-Additive_Manufacturing_Technology_Expands.jpg" height="240" alt="Additive Manufacturing Technology Expands" style="padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px;" width="360" />The photo shows an exhaust manifold laser-sintered out of EOS NickelAlloy IN625. Source: EOS</span></td> </tr> </table> <br /><strong><a href="http://www.eos.info/en/home.html" style="font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">EOS</a> introduced a new metal material, NickelAlloy IN625 and two new plastic materials: PrimePart FR (PA 2241 FR) and PrimePart ST (PEBA 2301).</strong><p /><strong>"These new materials open up completely new fields of application," says Peter Klink, executive vice president global sales at EOS.</strong><p /><strong>EOS says the new nickel alloy has high tensile strength, excellent processability and uniform corrosion resistance. It is targeted at aerospace, chemical, motor sport and marine industry applications. </strong><p /><strong>Greg Morris, CEO of Morris Technologies, says, "We are using IN625 with Direct Metal Laser Sintering to build complex aerospace parts for high-temperature and high-strength applications. The process achieves material properties that are comparable to wrought metals and far exceed casting."</strong><p /><strong>PrimePart FR (PA 2241 FR) is based on PA 12 polyamide and has an 11 percent elongation at break, which is significantly higher than its predecessor material PA 2210FR. PrimePart ST is an elastomeric material that targets applications such as flexible fasteners, seals and buffers</strong><p /><strong><a href="http://www.zcorp.com/en/Press-Room/Z-Corporation-to-showcase-New-ZBuilder-Ultra-Plastic-Rapid-Proto/news.aspx" style="font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Z Corp</a>. of Burlington, MA showed its TZBuilder Ultra rapid prototyping machine that builds durable plastic parts, which it says rival injection molding's accuracy, material properties, detail, and surface finish, at one-third of the price of machines with comparable performance. </strong><p /><strong><a href="http://www.3dsystems.com/" style="font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">3D Systems Corp.</a> showed extra-large automotive parts, representing several Fiat Group development projects.</strong></span></h2> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> </span></p> <h3 style=""><span style="font-size: x-small;">Doug Smock -- Design News, December 15, 2010</span></h3> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/additive-manufacturing-technology-expands">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-84079829234995880432010-12-15T00:27:00.001-05:002010-12-15T00:27:17.506-05:00CAD Guide To STL Export for 3D Printing<div class='posterous_autopost'> <p style="display: inline !important;"><strong><span style="color: #888888;">This document contains an overview about how to export STL model from some leading CAD</span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #888888;">applications. The information may be outdated due to newer releases of the CAD systems. If you</span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #888888;">have information that is more up to date, please inform us about this.</span></strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>Contents:</strong></p> <p><strong>A. Solid Works</strong></p> <p><strong>B. Pro/Engineeer</strong></p> <p><strong>C. Unigraphics</strong></p> <p><strong>D. AutoCAD</strong></p> <p><strong>E. AutoDesk Inventor</strong></p> <p><strong>F. CADKey</strong></p> <p><strong>G. I-Deas</strong></p> <p><strong>H. IronCAD</strong></p> <p><strong>I. Mechanical Desktop</strong></p> <p><strong>J. Solid Edge</strong></p> <p><strong>K. Think3</strong></p> <p><strong>L. 3D Studio Max</strong></p> <p><strong>M. Alibre</strong></p> <p><strong>N. Rhino</strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>A) <span style="font-size: medium;">SOLID WORKS</span></strong></p> <p><strong>1. Tools > Options > Export</strong></p> <p><strong>2. STL Options</strong></p> <p><strong>3. Select Binary for file type</strong></p> <p><strong>4. Set Quality to Fine</strong></p> <p><strong>5. File > Save As</strong></p> <p><strong>6. Set Save As Type to STL</strong></p> <p><strong>7. Save</strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>B) <span style="font-size: medium;">Pro/ENGINEER</span></strong></p> <p><strong>1. File > Save As</strong></p> <p><strong>2. Choose .STL</strong></p> <p><strong>3. Set chord height to 0. The field will be replaced by minimum acceptable value</strong></p> <p><strong>4. Set Angle Control to 0.5</strong></p> <p><strong>5. Choose file name</strong></p> <p><strong>5. Select OK</strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>C) <span style="font-size: medium;">Unigraphics</span></strong></p> <p><strong>1. File > Export > Rapid Prototyping</strong></p> <p><strong>2. Set Output type to Binary</strong></p> <p><strong>3. Set Triangle Tolerance to 0.0025</strong></p> <p><strong>4. Set Adjacency Tolerance to 0.12</strong></p> <p><strong>5. Set Auto Normal Gen to On</strong></p> <p><strong>6. Set Normal Display to Off</strong></p> <p><strong>7. Set Triangle Display to OnCompetence Center for Innovative Manufacturing</strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>D) <span style="font-size: medium;">AutoCAD</span></strong></p> <p><strong>Type these commands in AutoCAD's command line:</strong></p> <p><strong>1. Set DISPSILH to 1</strong></p> <p><strong>2. Set ISOLINES to 0</strong></p> <p><strong>3. Set FACETRES to 10</strong></p> <p><strong>4. Relocate the object to the positive X-Y-Z octant</strong></p> <p><strong>5. Use the STLOUT command to export an STL file. (AMSTLOUT for AutoCAD Desktop</strong></p> <p><strong>files)</strong></p> <p><strong>NOTE: Your design must be a three-dimensional solid object to output an STL file.</strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>E) <span style="font-size: medium;">Autodesk Inventor</span></strong></p> <p><strong>1. File > Save Copy</strong></p> <p><strong>2. Select STL</strong></p> <p><strong>3. Click the Options button, and choose the High detail level</strong></p> <p><strong>4. Click the Save Button.</strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>F) <span style="font-size: medium;">CADKEY</span></strong></p> <p><strong>1. File > Export > STL</strong></p> <p><strong>2. Type in a filename and select OK</strong></p> <p><strong>3. Change Format to Binary</strong></p> <p><strong>4. Use default Facet Tolerance</strong></p> <p><strong>5. Additional export tolerance options are in the Solids99 Configuration window</strong></p> <p><strong>accessed from the Tolerance section of Configuration.</strong></p> <p><strong>G)<span style="font-size: medium;"> I-DEAS</span></strong></p> <p><strong>1. File > Export > Rapid Prototype File > OK.</strong></p> <p><strong>2. Select the Part to be prototyped</strong></p> <p><strong>3. Select Prototype Device then, SLA500.dat then OK</strong></p> <p><strong>4. Set absolute facet deviation to 0.000395</strong></p> <p><strong>5. Select Binary, then OKCompetence Center for Innovative Manufacturing</strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>H) <span style="font-size: medium;">IronCAD</span></strong></p> <p><strong>1. Select Part Properties then Rendering</strong></p> <p><strong>2. Set Facet Surface Smoothing to 150</strong></p> <p><strong>3. Select File then Export</strong></p> <p><strong>4. Select .STL</strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>I) <span style="font-size: medium;">Mechanical Desktop</span></strong></p> <p><strong>1. Use the AMSTLOUT command to export your STL file.</strong></p> <p><strong>2. The following command line options affect the quality of the STL and should be</strong></p> <p><strong>adjusted to produce an acceptable file.</strong></p> <p><strong>· Angular Tolerance - This command limits the angle between the normals of</strong></p> <p><strong>adjacent triangles. The default setting is 15 degrees. Reducing the angle will</strong></p> <p><strong>increase the resolution of the STL file.</strong></p> <p><strong>· Aspect Ratio - This setting controls the Height/Width ratio of the facets. A</strong></p> <p><strong>setting of 1 would mean the height of a facet is no greater than its width. The</strong></p> <p><strong>default setting is 0, ignored.</strong></p> <p><strong>· Surface Tolerance - This setting controls the greatest distance between the</strong></p> <p><strong>edge of a facet and the actual geometry. A setting of 0.0000 causes this</strong></p> <p><strong>option to be ignored.</strong></p> <p><strong>· Vertex Spacing - This option controls the length of the edge of a facet. The</strong></p> <p><strong>Default setting is 0.0000, ignored.</strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>J) <span style="font-size: medium;">SolidEdge</span></strong></p> <p><strong>1. File > Save As</strong></p> <p><strong>2. Set Save As Type to STL</strong></p> <p><strong>3. Options</strong></p> <p><strong>4. Set Conversion Tolerance to 0.001in or 0.0254mm.</strong></p> <p><strong>5. Set Surface Plane Angle to 45.00</strong></p> <p><strong>6. Save</strong></p> <p><strong>K) Think3</strong></p> <p><strong>1. File > Save As</strong></p> <p><strong>2. Set Save As Type to STL</strong></p> <p><strong>3. SaveCompetence Center for Innovative Manufacturing</strong></p> <p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><strong> </strong></span></strong></p> <p style="display: inline !important;"><strong><strong><br /></strong></strong></p> <p style="display: inline !important;"><strong><strong>L)</strong></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>3D studio Max</strong></span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong> <p> </p> <p>First check for errors:</p> <p>An STL object must define a complete and closed surface. Use STL-Check modifier to test</p> <p>your geometry before export your object to STL.</p> <p>1. Select an object.</p> <p>2. Click <Modify></p> <p>3. Click <More...></p> <p>4. Select "STL-Check" under Object-Space Modifiers</p> <p>5. Select <Check></p> <p>If there are no errors, continue to export the STL file by:</p> <p>6. <File> <Export></p> <p>7. Select "StereoLitho [*.STL]" in <Save as type></p> <p>8. Select location in <Save in></p> <p>9. Enter a name in <File name></p> <p>10. <Save></p> <p>11. <OK></p> <p>Export To STL dialog:</p> <p>12. Object Name: Enter a name for the object you want to save in STL format.</p> <p>13. Binary/ASCII: Choose whether the STL output file will be binary or ASCII (character)</p> <p>data. ASCII STL files are much larger than binary STL files.</p> <p>14. Selected Only: Exports only objects that you selected in the 3D Studio scene.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><strong> </strong></span></p> <p style="display: inline !important;"><strong><br /></strong></p> <p style="display: inline !important;"><strong>M) <span style="font-size: medium;">Alibre</span></strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p> </p> <p>1. File</p> <p>2. Export</p> <p>3. Save As > STL</p> <p>4. Enter File Name</p> <p>5. Save</p> <p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><strong> </strong></span></p> <p style="display: inline !important;"><strong><br /></strong></p> <p style="display: inline !important;"><strong>N) <span style="font-size: medium;">Rhino</span></strong></p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p> </p> <p>1. File > Save As</p> <p>2. Select File Type > STL</p> <p>3. Enter a name for the STL file.</p> <p>4. Save</p> <p>5. Select Binary STL Files</p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small; color: #0000ff;">via Competence Center for Innovative Manufacturing</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.ccim.nl/">http://www.ccim.nl/</a></span></p> <p> </p> </strong></p> <p> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/cad-guide-to-stl-export-for-3d-printing">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-2168313610926551972010-12-13T08:02:00.001-05:002010-12-13T08:02:48.797-05:00Rhodia launches polyamide powders for rapid prototyping<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rhodia has announced the upcoming launch of polyamide (PA) powders for rapid prototyping and small series manufacturing by selective laser sintering (SLS). This is the first time that PA 6 powders are offered for direct part fabrication by SLS, claimed the company. The range will be extended to include PA 66 powders in the coming months.</span> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Using SLS, designers and processors can produce complete families of fully functional prototype parts, said Rhodia, before they cut any metal for tooling. Once the design is validated, they can even use SLS for limited series commercial production.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">“With processing properties perfectly adapted to SLS laser sintering – as well as other fabrication techniques based on addition of layers of powder – this new product range makes these innovative technologies much more accessible than before, opening the way to new applications and new markets,” said Jean-Pierre Marchand, director of marketing and innovation for Rhodia’s Engineering Plastics activities.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">The part of the rapid prototyping/manufacturing sector using these additive technologies has a current turnover of around €800m, with a potential estimated to reach €3bn in 2015.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">“In this context, the potential for SLS powders is forecast to rise to between €100m and €200m by 2020,” explains Pierre-Emmanuel Lucas, director of the PA powder project at Rhodia. “With this new range of materials, Rhodia expects to play an important part in this market.”</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><span>By Anthony Clark</span> via </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.prw.com/">http://www.prw.com/</a> </span></p> <p><span style="color: #888888;"><strong>POLYAMIDE</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <div style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: ; background-color: initial; background-position: 50% 0%; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <div class="cat" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> <div class="left" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 4px; margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; border-top-width: 4px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: #a30050; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-top-style: solid; display: inline; padding: 0px;"> <div style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: ; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <div style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <div class="inside" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 23px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 23px; margin-left: 20px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> <div class="contentdetail" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <p class="caption" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px !important; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; float: left; padding: 0px;"><img title="Rhodia Polyamide" src="http://www.rhodia.com/en/binaries/2008_polyamide_02.jpg" alt="Rhodia Polyamide" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid #b2b2b2;" /></p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">Rhodia Polyamide supplies customers around the world with a wide range of industrial and consumer goods based mainly on its core product, Polyamide 6.6.</p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">The world’s second largest producer of Polyamide 6.6, and with a fully integrated Polyamide manufacturing chain, the enterprise produces<a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/products/polyamide_intermediates.tcm" title="Polyamide intermediates" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">intermediates and polymers</a> (for downstream polyamide and non-polyamide products, such as polyurethanes and food additives), oxygenated <a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/products/solvents.tcm" title="Solvents" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">solvents</a> (for the industrial paints, leather, automotive, packaging and inks markets), <a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/products/engineering_plastics.tcm" title="Engineering plastics" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">engineering plastics</a> (for the automotive, electrical and electronics markets), <a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/products/polyamide_fibers.tcm" title="Polyamide fibers" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">fibers</a> (used in the automotive, tire, filtration, print, rope, carpet, furniture and textile markets) and <a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/products/textile_yarns.tcm" title="Textile yarns" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">textile and industrial yarns</a> (for lingerie, clothing and sportswear).</p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">In 2007, for the fourth consecutive year, Rhodia Polyamide generated growth on the <a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/products/engineering_plastics.tcm" title="Engineering plastics" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">engineering plastics</a> market twice that of market growth worldwide, a result of its expansion in the rapidly developing markets of Asia and South America.</p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h3 class="title" style="font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: initial; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-color: initial; color: #a30050; padding: 0px;">Leading brands & innovation</h3> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">The enterprise has launched more than 20 new product lines during the past five years, with its flagship brand <a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/leading_brands/polyamide_technyl.tcm" title="Polyamide Technyl" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Technyl®</a> regularly enhanced by innovations, including, in 2007, the launch of <a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/new_products/polyamide_technyl_star_afx.tcm" title="Polyamide Technyl Star AFX" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Technyl Star™ AFX</a>, a polyamide 6.6 with exceptional fluidity to fill the gap between standard polyamides and higher-cost metals or <a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/products/engineering_plastics.tcm" title="Engineering plastics" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">engineering plastics</a>.</p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">Rhodia Polyamide offers as well the industry’s largest PA 66 Polymer brand,<a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/leading_brands/polyamide_stabamid.tcm" title="Polyamide Stabamid" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">STABAMID®</a>, by combining the Polyamide 66 intermediates through a top class process of polymerization. <br />Our Polyamide 66 STABAMID® polymers offer exceptional performances for high quality products and a full range of products for engineering plastics, industrial yarns, textile or fibers market.</p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h3 class="title" style="font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: initial; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-color: initial; color: #a30050; padding: 0px;">Total sales 2009: €1,476 million</h3> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h3 class="title" style="font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: initial; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-color: initial; color: #a30050; padding: 0px;">Leadership positions</h3> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"> </p> <ul style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <li style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 15px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: list-item; padding: 0px;">N°2 in the world in polyamide 6.6 markets</p> </li> <li style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 15px; text-decoration: inherit; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: list-item; padding: 0px;">N°2 in the world for polyamide-based <a href="http://www.rhodia.com/en/markets_and_products/products/engineering_plastics.tcm" title="Engineering plastics" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; text-decoration: underline; text-align: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #ba0047; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">engineering plastics</a></p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </span></p> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/rhodia-launches-polyamide-powders-for-rapid-p">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-77572071833485990932010-11-20T20:31:00.001-05:002010-11-20T20:31:30.819-05:00Do 3D Printers Bypass Customs?<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #555555; line-height: 21px;"> <div><span style="font-size: small; color: #c0c0c0;">There could be several interesting effects on business and society when 3D printers become widespread, and we've discussed a few of them in the past,<a href="http://fabbaloo.com/blog/2010/5/14/up-against-the-wall-and-spread-your-legs.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: #0000ff;">including possible crime</a>, for example. But here's another one to think about: Customs Control. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: small; color: #c0c0c0;">Most countries have some level of customs controls, in which imported goods are inspected for legality and sometimes taxed as well. This approach has worked fine for centuries, but things might get a little different in the near future when citizens have access to 3D printers that can reproduce many types of objects. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: small; color: #c0c0c0;">In fact, as 3D printers get increasingly capable, the breadth of reproducible objects will only increase. Eventually citizens will be able to obtain many arbitrary objects by printing them instead of having them physically shipped across borders. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: small; color: #c0c0c0;">But this means the objects will not be inspected by customs control. Objects of questionable legality could spontaneously appear within a country's borders. And they certainly won't be subject to the traditional tariffs and taxes. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: small; color: #c0c0c0;">The only item crossing a border in this case is the digital 3D model, and it's likely impossible to inspect. We can't imagine a country sealing its electronic borders to perform searches of electronic files. </span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: small; color: #c0c0c0;">Could this mean weapons could be "beamed" into another country without the need for smuggling in the future? Could knock-off designs copying brand name items be printed instead of emerging from a manufacturing plant in China? Will cross-border shopping wither?</span></div> <p /> <div><span style="font-size: small; color: #c0c0c0;">Due to this and other similar situations, we think an object's design will become a great deal more important as the number of 3D printers increases. </span></div> <p /> <div>via Fabbaloo</div> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/do-3d-printers-bypass-customs">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-26994155569602512010-11-10T17:35:00.001-05:002010-11-10T17:35:57.290-05:003D Printing and Intellectual Property<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: #333333; line-height: 26px;"><strong> 3D Printing, Intellectual Property, and the Fight Over the Next Great Disruptive Technology</strong>, examines how intellectual property (IP) law impacts the rapidly maturing technology of 3D printing, and how incumbents who feel threatened by its growth might try to use IP law to stop it.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: #333333; line-height: 26px;"> <div class="content" style="clear: both;"> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Introduction</span></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">An Opportunity, and a Warning</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The next great technological disruption is brewing just out of sight. In small workshops, and faceless office parks, and garages, and basements, revolutionaries are tinkering with machines that can turn digital bits into physical atoms. The machines can download plans for a wrench from the Internet and print out a real, working wrench. Users design their own jewelry, gears, brackets, and toys with a computer program, and use their machines to create real jewelry, gears, brackets, and toys.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">These machines, generically known as 3D printers, are not imported from the future or the stuff of science fiction. Home versions, imperfect but real, can be had for around $1,000. Every day they get better, and move closer to the mainstream.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">In many ways, today’s 3D printing community resembles the personal computing community of the early 1990s. They are a relatively small, technically proficient group, all intrigued by the potential of a great new technology. They tinker with their machines, share their discoveries and creations, and are more focused on what is possible than on what happens after they achieve it. They also benefit from following the personal computer revolution: the connective power of the Internet lets them share, innovate, and communicate much faster than the Homebrew Computer Club could have ever imagined.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The personal computer revolution also casts light on some potential pitfalls that may be in store for the growth of 3D printing. When entrenched interests began to understand just how disruptive personal computing could be (especially massively networked personal computing) they organized in Washington, D.C. to protect their incumbent power. Rallying under the banner of combating piracy and theft, these interests pushed through laws like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that made it harder to use computers in new and innovative ways. In response, the general public learned once-obscure terms like “fair use” and worked hard to defend their ability to discuss, create, and innovate. Unfortunately, this great public awakening came<em>after</em> Congress had already passed its restrictive laws.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Of course, computers were not the first time that incumbents welcomed new technologies by attempting to restrict them. The arrival of the printing press resulted in new censorship and licensing laws designed to slow the spread of information. The music industry claimed that home taping would destroy it. And, perhaps most memorably, the movie industry compared the VCR to the Boston Strangler preying on a woman home alone.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">One of the goals of this whitepaper is to prepare the 3D printing community, and the public at large, <em>before</em> incumbents try to cripple 3D printing with restrictive intellectual property laws. By understanding how intellectual property law relates to 3D printing, and how changes might impact 3D printing’s future, this time we will be ready when incumbents come calling to Congress.</p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">3D Printing</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">So what is 3D printing? Essentially, a 3D printer is a machine that can turn a blueprint into a physical object. Feed it a design for a wrench, and it produces a physical, working wrench. Scan a coffee mug with a 3D scanner, send the file to the printer, and produce thousands of identical mugs.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">While even today there are a number of competing designs for 3D printers, most work in the same general way. Instead of taking a block of material and cutting away until it produces an object, a 3D printer actually builds the object up from tiny bits of material, layer by layer. Among other advantages, this allows a 3D printer to create structures that would be impossible if the designer needed to find a way to insert a cutting tool into a solid block of material. It also allows a 3D printer to form general-purpose material into a wide variety of diverse objects.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Because they create objects by building them up layer-by-layer, 3D printers can create objects with internal, movable parts. Instead of having to print individual parts and have a person assemble them, a 3D printer can print the object already assembled. Of course, a 3D printer can also print individual parts or replacement parts. In fact, some 3D printers can print a substantial number of their own parts, essentially allowing them to self-replicate.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">3D printing starts with a blueprint, usually one created with a computer aided design (CAD) program running on a desktop computer. This is a virtual 3D model of an object. CAD programs are widely used today by designers, engineers, and architects to imagine physical objects before they are created in the real world.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The CAD design process replaces the need to design physical prototypes out of malleable material such as clay or styrofoam. A designer uses the CAD program to create the model, which is then saved as a file. Much as a word processer is superior to a typewriter because it allows a writer to add, delete, and edit text freely, a CAD program allows a designer to manipulate a design as she sees fit.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Alternatively, a 3D scanner can create a CAD design by scanning an existing object. Just as a flatbed scanner can create a digital file of a drawing on a piece of paper, a 3D scanner can create a digital file of a physical object.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">No matter how it is created, once the CAD design exists it can be widely distributed just like any other computer file. One person can create a new object, email the design to his friend across the country, and the friend can print out an identical object.</p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><em>3D Printing in Action</em></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The mechanics of 3D printing are all well and good, but what can it actually be used for? This is a hard question to answer comprehensively. If in 1992, after describing the basics of computer networking, someone asked you what it could be used for, it is unlikely that you would have described Facebook, Twitter, or SETI@Home. Instead you may have described early websites like craigslist, or the home pages of print newspapers, or (if you were particularly forward thinking) a blog. While these early sites are not representative of everything that today’s maturing Internet has to offer, they do at least give someone an idea of what the Internet could be. Similarly, today’s examples of 3D printing will inevitably appear primitive in five, ten, or twenty years. However, they can be helpful to understand exactly what we are talking about.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">As mentioned above, 3D printing can be used to create objects. At its most basic, 3D printing would allow you to design bookends that look like your face, or even custom action figures. 3D printing could be used to make simple machines like bicycles and skateboards. More elaborately, when combined with on-demand circuit board printing, 3D printing could be used to make simple household electronics like a custom remote control for your TV that is molded to fit your hand, with all of the buttons exactly where you want them. Industrial 3D printing is already used to make custom, fully functional prosthetic limbs.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn1" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[1]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">This ability seems amazing today. Who could resist giving out exact replicas of their face to friends and family as gifts? What child (or adult, for that matter) would not enjoy the ability to summon toys they designed out of a computer and into their hands? What is to prevent you from making a toaster that squeezes into that oddly shaped nook in your kitchen? Why shouldn’t amputees have prosthetic limbs that match the rest of their body, or that have neon stripes with alternating flashing lights if they so desire?</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Yet, this amazing ability is also vulnerable to restriction through intellectual property law. Artists may fear that their copyright-protected sculptures will be replicated without permission. Toy companies will see trademark and copyright violations in toys flowing from 3D printers. The new toaster or prosthetic arm may infringe on innumerable patents.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">No one suggests that these concerns are unwarranted. After all, the ability to copy and replicate is the ability to infringe on copyright, patent, and trademark. But the ability to copy and replicate is also the ability to create, expand upon, and innovate. Just as with the printing press, the copy machine, and the personal computer before it, some people will see 3D printing as a disruptive threat. Similarly, just as with the printing press, the copy machine, and the personal computer, some people will see 3D printing as a groundbreaking tool to spread creativity and knowledge. It is critical that those who fear not stop those who are inspired.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <br /> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Using 3D Printing</span></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Intellectual property law is varied and complex, as are the potential uses for 3D printing. The easiest way to consider the possible impact that intellectual property law could have on 3D printing is to consider a few different use scenarios.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn1" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[†]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">Creating Original Products</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Intuitively, creating original products would create the fewest intellectual property conflicts. After all, the user is creating his or her own 3D object.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">In the world of copyright law, this intuition is correct. When a child in Seattle writes an ode to his pet dog, that work is protected by copyright. If, two years later, another child in Atlanta writes an identical ode to her pet dog (unaware of the first ode), the second work is also protected by copyright. This is possible because copyright allows for independent creation, even if the same work was independently created twice (or even more than twice). While a work must be original in order to receive copyright protection, the work does not need to be unique in the world.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">However, and relevantly for reproducing 3D objects, patent law does have a novelty requirement. Patent law does not allow for parallel creation. Once an invention is patented every unauthorized reproduction of that invention is an infringement, whether the reproducer is aware of the original invention or not.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Historically, this distinction has not been particularly problematic. Copyright protects many works that are long and complex, and can take the form of a variety of expressions. As a result, it was relatively unlikely that two people would create exactly the same work without the second copying the first. In contrast, many people working on a practical problem at the same time may create similar solutions. For patents to be worthwhile, they had to cover all identical devices, no matter how they were developed. It was assumed that parties vying for a patent were sophisticated and would do a patent search before trying to solve a problem. Everyone playing the game understood that it was a race to file, and took necessary precautions.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">By democratizing the precision creation of physical objects, 3D printing may make the creation of physical objects nearly as widespread as the creation of copyright-protectable works. 3D printing also removes object creation from the realm of well-funded labs tightly integrated into the existing patent system.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">This shift will likely increase the number of innocent patent infringers – people who infringe on a patent they do not even know exists. As 3D printing proliferates, individuals will look to solve problems by designing and creating their own solutions. In producing those solutions it is quite possible that they will unwittingly incorporate elements protected by patent. Again, unlike copyright, that type of innocent copying is still infringement.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Sharing designs on the Internet amplifies the problem. It is unlikely that a single object produced for home use would attract the attention of a patent holder. But, if the history of the Internet up to this point has taught us anything, it is that people like to share. Individuals who successfully design products that solve real world problems will share their designs online. Other people with similar problems will use (and even remix and improve) those designs. Very successful designs that happen to infringe on patents are the most likely to be targeted by patent holders.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">While this type of inadvertent patent infringement has the potential to become one of the high-profile, defining conflicts of early 3D printing, it is likely to impact relatively few people. When millions of people are creating objects for 3D printing, the likelihood of someone copying a patented object or process is high. However, because patents do not cover most physical objects in the world, the likelihood that any one reproduced object infringes patent is relatively low. It is entirely possible that many (if not most) users of 3D printers will live their entire lives without inadvertently infringing on a patent.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">Copying Products</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Naturally, every object produced in a 3D printer will not be the result of the printing individual’s own creativity and ingenuity. As already mentioned, sometimes the object will be one downloaded and printed from another person’s original design. However, sometimes the object will simply be a copy of an existing commercial product.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">This copy could come from at least two sources. The first source would be the Internet. CAD plans, like all files, are easily copied and distributed online. Once one individual creates the plan for an object and uploads that plan, it is essentially available to the world.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The second source would be a 3D scanner. A 3D scanner has the capability to create a CAD file by scanning a 3D object. An individual with a 3D scanner would be able to scan a physical object, transfer the resulting file to a 3D printer, and reproduce it at will.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">No matter the source of the file, copying existing commercial objects will draw the attention of the object’s original manufacturers. Although the proliferation of 3D printing will undoubtedly create opportunities for manufacturers (such as vastly reduced distribution costs and the ability to allow customers to customize objects), it will also disrupt existing business models. Depending on the type of object copied, manufacturers may turn to several different forms of intellectual property protection for relief.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><em>Copyright</em></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Copyright essentially attaches to every original creative work that is fixed in a tangible medium.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn2" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[2]</span></span></a><span> </span>This includes most things that are written, drawn, or designed. However, the copyright only protects the actual writing, drawing, or design itself, not the idea that it expresses.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Networked computers are designed to reproduce things that are written, drawn, or designed. Their spread created exponentially increasing public awareness of copyright law and policy. As creations appeared online, they have been copied. As items have been copied, creators and those who monetized scarcity have called for stronger, more aggressive copyright enforcement. Oftentimes they have sought to transfer the cost of enforcement onto service providers and the public – anyone but themselves.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">In many ways, this struggle has defined the world of intellectual property law and policy for the last fifteen years. However, it has primarily been limited to the world of the intangible. The debate may manifest itself in a discussion about physical CDs, or DVDs, or books, but it really is about songs, and movies, and stories. These expressed ideas are at the core of copyright law.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The rise of 3D printing may divert some of the attention that copyright has received in recent years. While there are copyright implications for 3D printing, the fact that copyright has traditionally avoided attaching to functional objects – objects with purposes beyond their aesthetic value – may very well limit its importance.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">By and large, attempts to expand copyright protection to functional objects have failed. Copyright law has long avoided attaching to functional objects on the grounds that patent law should protect them (if they should be protected at all). That said, it is unavoidable that some functional objects also serve the types of decorative and creative purposes protected by copyright. Copyright deals with this by applying the “severability test.”</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Classic useful articles (of the type traditionally covered by patent) are things like a new oil pump, or a hinge, or a machine to fold boxes. However, sometimes useful articles can also be decorative. A vase is a container to hold water and flowers, but it can also be a work of art in its own right. The severability test seeks to deal with the fact that sometimes an uncopyrightable object (the vase) and a copyrightable object (the decoration on the vase) can exist in the same object (the decorative vase). Under this test, any decorative elements of the object that exist outside of the scope of the useful object (or could be “severed” from the useful object) are protectable under copyright.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">This has ramifications for individuals using 3D printers to reproduce physical objects. While, for the most part, the physical object itself will not be protected by copyright, decorative elements may be protected.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Users would be well served to keep this distinction in mind. Take, as a simple example, an individual who wishes to reproduce a doorstop. The individual likes this particular doorstop because it is exactly the right size and angle to keep a door in their home open. This doorstop also has decorative elements – it is covered with a lively and colorful print, and intricate designs are carved into the sides. If the individual were to reproduce the entire doorstop, including the print and carvings, the original manufacturer may be able to bring a successful claim for copyright infringement. However, if the individual simply reproduced the parts of the doorstop that he cared about (the size and angle of the doorstop), and omitted the decorative elements (the print and carving), it is unlikely that the original manufacturer would be able to successfully bring a copyright claim against the copier.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><em>Patent</em></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Patent is different from copyright in several key ways. First and foremost, patent protection is not granted automatically. While the mere act of writing down a story grants it copyright protection, the mere creation of an invention does not result in patent protection. An inventor must apply for a patent on her invention at the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The invention must be new,<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn3" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[3]</span></span></a> useful,<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn4" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[4]</span></span></a> and non-obvious.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn5" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[5]</span></span></a><span> </span>In making the application, the inventor must disclose information that would allow others to practice the invention.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn6" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[6]</span></span></a> Finally, patent protection is significantly shorter in duration than copyright protection.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn7" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[7]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The end result of these differences is that there are far fewer inventions protected by patent law than there are works protected by copyright law. While copyright law protects every ditty, every poem, and every home movie (no matter how trivial) for decades after its creation, most functional objects are not protected by patent law.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">This dichotomy can be easily seen in the treatment of digital versus physical products. When you purchase a work that is delivered digitally to your computer, be it a song or a movie or a book, making additional unauthorized copies of that work is an infringement of it because it is protected by copyright (unless it is in the public domain or the copy is a protected fair use). In contrast, when you purchase a physical object that is delivered to your home, making an additional copy of that object is unlikely to be a violation of patent because it is probably not covered by a patent. This creates an entire universe of items that can be freely replicated in a 3D printer.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Though patent protects fewer objects, and protects them for a shorter amount of time, in many ways it protects them more completely. As discussed above, there is no exception for independent creation in patent law. Once an object has been patented, all copies, regardless of the copier’s knowledge of the patent, infringe upon that patent. Simply stated, if you are using a 3D printer to reproduce a patented object, you are infringing on the patent. Even using the patented device without authorization infringes on the patent. Furthermore, unlike in copyright, there is no fair use in patent. There is also no exception for home use, or for copying objects for purely personal use.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Yet, infringement is not as absolute as it might first appear. Infringement of a patented invention requires infringement of the entire invention. This flows from the nature of patents.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn8" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[8]</span></span></a><span> </span>One of the primary requirements for patent protection is that the invention is new.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn9" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[9]</span></span></a> Often, a novel invention will consist of many existing inventions working together in a new way.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn10" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[10]</span></span></a><span> </span>It would be illogical if, by patenting the new combination of old inventions, the patent holder acquired a patent on the old inventions as well. Therefore, copying unpatented parts of a patented invention is not a violation of the larger patent.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><em>Trademark</em></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Although it is usually grouped with patents and copyright, trademark is a slightly different intellectual property animal. Unlike patent and copyright, there is no mention of trademark in the Constitution. Instead, trademark developed as a way to protect consumers, giving them confidence that a product marked with a manufacturer’s symbol was actually made and backed by that manufacturer. As a result, trademark is not designed to protect intellectual property per se. Intellectual property protection is instead a side effect of needing to protect the integrity of the mark.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Trademark could still be implicated when making exact copies of objects. If a 3D printer made a copy of an object and that copy included a trademark, the copy would infringe on the trademark. However, the specificity of 3D printing would allow an individual to replicate an object without replicating the trademark. If you like a given product, and do not feel passionately about having the logo attached to it, it will generally not be a violation of trademark law to reproduce it without the logo.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h3 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.286em; line-height: 1.444em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"> Use in Commerce</h3> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">There is an additional trademark issue to consider in the case of home-based 3D printing. Because trademark protection is specifically geared towards preventing consumer confusion in the marketplace, trademark infringement is described in terms of “use in commerce.”<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn11" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[11]</span></span></a> Unlike patent or copyright, it is not copying a trademark that creates a trademark violation. Instead, it is using that trademark in commerce (thus potentially confusing a consumer as to the origin of the product) that results in a violation.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Over time, the understanding of “use in commerce” has expanded significantly. Trademark infringement has even been expanded to include “dilution” of famous marks, essentially making any public use of a famous mark – in commerce or not – a violation of trademark law.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn12" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[12]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">That being said, the mere existence of an unauthorized trademark in your home is not a violation of trademark law. In most cases, making products in your own home for your own personal use that include trademarks is not a violation of trademark. You know you made the product, so there is no chance that you are going to be “confused” about where it came from.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">However, this does not mean that just because you make a product in your home there are not trademark implications. Using a home 3D printer to churn out knockoff sunglasses to use in your back yard may not be trademark infringement, but it will be as soon as you take steps to try and sell them.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn13" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[13]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">Replacement Objects</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">While 3D printing could be used to create wholesale copies of manufactured goods, it could also be used to create replacement parts for worn or broken goods. Instead of scouring the Internet for that oddly shaped bracket or hinge, an individual could simply print out a perfect replacement part. In fact, the individual might decide to improve upon the original part to prevent it from breaking in the future.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">As with creating and copying objects, there are ways in which manufacturers could use intellectual property law to prevent such activity. In the case of replacement objects, copyright and trademark protections will not be as important. A replacement part is, almost by definition, a “useful article” of the type under the jurisdiction of patent law.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Patent allows for the free reproduction of replacement parts in a number of ways. First, there are relatively stringent requirements for patent protection. As mentioned above, these stringent requirements mean that relatively few objects are protected by patent.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Moreover, many of the objects protected by patent are, in fact, “combination” patents. Combination patents combine existing objects (some patented, some not) in a new way. Although the new combination is protected by patent, the individual elements (assuming they are not individually protected by patent) are free to be reproduced at will. As a result, there is little question that manufacturing unpatented replacement parts for a patented device would not violate the patent for that device.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn14" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[14]</span></span></a><span> </span>As long as you legitimately purchased the original device, you have the right to manufacture your own replacement parts.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn15" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[15]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">This right to replace has two noteworthy caveats. First, you only have the right to replace <em>parts</em> of a patented device. That means that a simple patented device consisting of only one part, or an individually patented part of a more complex device, cannot be reproduced without infringing.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Second, though repairing a patented device is legal, reconstructing the same device in its entirety from its constituent parts is infringement.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn16" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[16]</span></span></a> The line between repair and reproduction is somewhat undefined, and may become an area of increased attention as the use of 3D printing to replace parts expands. A good rule of thumb is that if the patented item is designed to be used once, attempting to refashion it would qualify as infringement.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn17" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[17]</span></span></a> If, however, there is an unpatented part of a larger patented device that has worn out, refashioning the part is not infringement.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn18" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[18]</span></span></a> This holds true even if, over time, the owner of a device ends up replacing each worn out part of the patented device.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn19" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[19]</span></span></a> Alternatively, replacing part of a patented device in order to give the device new or different functionality is also not infringement, because it creates a new device.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn20" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[20]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">Using Logos and Other Trade Dress</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Once they become widespread, individuals will begin using 3D printers to reproduce trademarked logos and other elements of “trade dress.”<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn21" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[21]</span></span></a> Most exact logo reproductions, as discussed above, will likely be infringement. The look and feel of the object, often referred to as “trade dress,” is slightly more complex. Those aspects can be protected by design patent and by the trade dress subsection of trademark.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><em>Design Patents</em></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">In addition to purely functional patents, United States law also provides patent protection for “new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.”<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn22" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[22]</span></span></a> Although this expansion into ornamental design might appear to overlap with copyright, design patents are quite limited in scope.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">First, the protected design must truly be novel.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn23" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[23]</span></span></a><span> </span>Secondly, design patents are strictly limited to ornamental, non-functional designs.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn24" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[24]</span></span></a> Courts have reacted skeptically when manufacturers have attempted to use design patent to protect functional elements of designs.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn25" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[25]</span></span></a> Finally, the design protection itself only extends to the actual design represented in the patent application, not similar designs or designs merely derived from the original.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn26" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[26]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 28px; padding: 0px;">In many ways this distinction between form and function clashes with the traditional goals of industrial design. In general, industrial designers achieve elegance by wedding form to function – finding a single way to meet both imperatives. Creating a hard distinction between form and function runs counter to that goal.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">In any event, users of 3D printers should often be able to work around design patents. If an element of an object is functional, and thus necessary to reproduce a machine or product, it simply cannot be protected by a design patent.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn27" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[27]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">However, there are some cases in which design patent protection may be problematic. Perhaps most famously, automobile manufacturers are increasingly using design patents to protect body panels, lights, and mirrors. This has allowed them to prevent third parties from entering the auto replacement parts market.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn28" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[28]</span></span></a> Also, design patents can be used to protect designs as soon as they enter the marketplace. This can give manufactures the ability to protect a design during the time it takes to develop the secondary meaning required to obtain more permanent trade dress protection under trademark law.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn29" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[29]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><em>Trade Dress</em></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Trademark protection can extend beyond a logo affixed to a product to include the design of the product itself. However, in order to extend protection to product design, courts have required that trade dress acquire a distinct association with a specific manufacturer.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn30" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[30]</span></span></a> Acquiring this type of distinctiveness takes time, and must be proven by survey results or some other proof of association in the eyes of the general public. As a result most product designs, even unique designs intended “to render the product more useful or more appealing,” will not be protected as trade dress.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn31" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[31]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Additionally, as with design patents, trade dress protection cannot be applied to functional product elements.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn32" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[32]</span></span></a> The burden of establishing nonfunctionality of the trade dress lies with the manufacturer, making it harder to protect functional elements behind trade dress.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn33" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[33]</span></span></a> Any “essential” feature of a product – a feature that would put competitors at a “significant nonreputational-related disadvantage” if they were unable to incorporate it, or would affect the cost or quality of the device – is excluded from trade dress protection.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn34" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[34]</span></span></a> As the Supreme Court wrote, trademark law “does not protect trade dress in a functional design simply because an investment has been made to encourage the public to associate a particular functional feature with a single manufacturer or seller.”<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn35" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[35]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">As with design patents, trade dress protection should not provide a significant barrier to the reproduction of objects with a 3D printer. If an element of the object is required for its operation, it cannot be protected by trade dress. However, attempts to exactly copy objects with trade dress protection will run afoul of trademark law.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">Remixing</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">What about remixing? Remix culture has been one of the richest creative results of the widespread availability of networked computing. Traditionally, remix culture has been limited to written works, visual art, and music. However, there are already examples of remixers experimenting with functional objects.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">In some ways, 3D printing may usher in a new golden age of remix culture. Recall that the traditional sources of remixed works – written works, visual art, and music – are mostly protected by copyright. As a result, remix artists have needed to rely on fair use to create their works.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">There are comparatively fewer intellectual property protections for tangible, everyday objects. Reappropriating and mashing up functional objects will, in general, trigger fewer intellectual property rights issues. However, when those issues are triggered, they will be harder to resolve. Unlike copyright, there is no fair use for patent. Repurposing a patented object, for whatever reason, is still a violation of the patent.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <br /> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Future Issues</span></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Thus far, this paper has largely considered how rightsholders would respond with existing intellectual property law if 3D printing became widespread overnight. However, 3D printing will not emerge overnight. It will slowly improve and creep into the mainstream. As this process occurs, there will be tens, if not hundreds, of small intellectual property skirmishes. These skirmishes will attempt to wed existing intellectual property protections to new realities, and in doing so will slowly change the state of the law. While it would be easy to miss these skirmishes – an obscure lawsuit here, a small amendment to the law there – it will be critical not to. In aggregate, these changes will decide how free we will be to use disruptive new technologies like 3D printing to their fullest potential. What follows is a list of the issues most likely to be fought over.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">Patent</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><em>Expansion of Contributory Infringement</em></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Traditional patent infringement is not necessarily well suited to a world in which individuals are replicating patented items in their own homes for their own use. Unlike with copyright infringement, the mere possession or downloading of a file is not enough to create infringement liability.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn36" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[36]</span></span></a> In order to identify an infringer, the patent owner would need to find a way to determine that the device was actually replicated in the physical world by the potential defendant. This would likely be significantly more time and resource intensive than the monitoring of file trading sites used in copyright infringement cases.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">In light of this, following in the wake of large copyright holders, patent owners may turn to the doctrine of contributory infringement to defend their rights.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn37" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[37]</span></span></a> This would allow patent owners to go after those who enable individuals to replicate patented items in their homes. For example, they could sue manufacturers of 3D printers on the grounds that 3D printers are required to make copies. They may sue sites that host design files as havens of piracy. Instead of having to sue hundreds, or even thousands, of individuals with limited resources, patent holders could sue a handful of companies with the resources to pay judgments against them.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">In addition to attacking the companies that make 3D printing possible, patent owners may try to stigmatize CAD filetypes in much the same way that copyright holders stigmatize the bittorrent file transfer protocol (or even MP3 files). Successfully equating CAD files with infringement could slow the mainstream adoption of 3D printing and imply that anyone uploading CAD files to a community site is somehow infringing on rights.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h3 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.286em; line-height: 1.444em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"> Evidence of Copying</h3> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">However, contributory infringement will not automatically give patent owners the ability to shut down 3D printing. First and foremost, contributory infringement still requires evidence of actual infringement.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn38" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[38]</span></span></a> This should prevent patent owners from inferring that Company X must be helping people infringe simply because of the nature of the product they offer. In order to successfully sue Company X, patent owners will have to prove that a user actually used a product or service offered by Company X to infringe, not just that a user could have done so. Contributory infringement gives patent holders a way to protect their patent without having to go after each and every individual who infringed, but they still have to find at least one individual who actually infringed the patent.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h3 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.286em; line-height: 1.444em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"> Staple Article of Commerce</h3> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The second hurdle for patent holders will be the “staple article of commerce” doctrine. This doctrine recognizes that inventions are made out of things, and that things can be used to make more than just the invention. For example, just because you patent a new steel mechanism does not mean that you can sue all steel manufacturers for contributory patent infringement. Even if someone did use a specific steel manufacturer’s steel to copy your mechanism, that fact alone would not allow you to sue for infringement. Steel has substantial lawful as well as unlawful uses, and the mere fact that it could be misused does not prove that it was misused.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn39" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[39]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">As long as an item is capable of substantial noninfringing uses, the fact that it could be used to infringe a patent is not enough to create liability for its creator.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn40" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[40]</span></span></a> Moreover, selling general-purpose equipment that can perform a process does not infringe on a patent on that process.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn41" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[41]</span></span></a> When the Supreme Court considered the fate of the VCR, it specifically borrowed this concept from patent law.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn42" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[42]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">This rule is logical. Tools like scanners and barcode readers are no doubt used in a number of patented processes – however, they are also used in any number of non-patented ways.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn43" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[43]</span></span></a> Similarly, a computer, a 3D printer, and some glue have the ability to make an infringing reproduction of a patented product. However, all of these items have so many legal and noninfringing uses that outlawing them would harm society.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h3 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.286em; line-height: 1.444em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"> Knowledge</h3> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Finally, in order to sue a company who provides tools that can be used to infringe patents, a patent owner must show that the company knew or had the intent to cause someone else to infringe a patent.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn44" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[44]</span></span></a><span> </span>Although a patent owner does not need to uncover direct evidence of intent to contribute to infringement, the patent owner does need to provide circumstantial evidence.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn45" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[45]</span></span></a> The patent holder must show that the party who allegedly induced infringement actually knew of the patent in question, or displayed deliberate indifference to the existence of such a patent.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn46" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[46]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">As with the other hurdles, this should serve to insulate the companies who merely provide the tools necessary to make 3D printing possible. The printer manufacturer, software designer, and companies that provide the materials that the printers use to make products should be able to claim that they are servicing a large, legitimate market and that any infringement is incidental to their activities.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><em>Repair and Reproduction</em></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Today the public is free to replicate unpatented elements of combination patents. They can repair and replace worn elements without securing an additional license or obtaining necessary replacement parts from the original manufacturer.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">When creating those replacement parts or unpatented elements becomes easier, manufacturers will likely begin to see it as piracy and theft. They will likely seek to criminalize the creation of replacement parts without a license and reduce the threshold for what qualifies as a step towards infringement. This will most likely come in the form of a push for an expanded scope for patent protection (especially design patents), and the creation of some sort of protections for non-patented elements of combination patents.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Also, the somewhat ambiguous line between repair and reconstruction is likely to be explored, and potentially clarified. Users will fight to maintain the right to repair worn out parts, while manufactures will fight to create a monopoly on replacements.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">Copyright</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">As 3D printing makes it possible to recreate physical objects, manufacturers and designers of such objects will increasingly demand “copyright” protection for their functional objects. The most likely way to achieve this type of protection is to eliminate or restrict the application of the severability test discussed above. Instead of separating design elements from functional elements, they will work to expand copyright protection to all functional items that contain design elements. We are already seeing such attempts in the call for fashion copyright, or a desire to protect functional objects such as a Dyson vacuum or an iPod as art. In some ways, this fear was realized when Congress added a special copyright protection for boat hull designs.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn47" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[47]</span></span></a></p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">This could create a type of quasi-patent system, without the requirement for novelty or the strictly limited period of protection. Useful objects could be protected for decades after creation. Mechanical and functional innovation could be frozen by fears of massive copyright infringement lawsuits. Furthermore, articles that the public is free to recreate and improve upon today (such as a simple mug or bookend) would become subject to inaccessible and restrictive licensing agreements.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">Trademark</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">In recent years, the Supreme Court has been protective of the public’s interest in competition in the face of requests from trademark holders to increase the scope of protection.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn48" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[48]</span></span></a> However, manufacturers will continue to seek expanded scope of trademark protection. Trademark is an especially attractive type of protection because it is potentially infinite in time.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">With regard to trade dress, manufacturers will continue to push for “inherent distinctiveness” (or automatic trademark protection) without a requirement that a design acquire distinctiveness through public association. They will also seek to minimize the importance of the “use in commerce” clause in trademark law. At this time, “use in commerce” has not been heavily litigated because there were very few circumstances in which a defendant would be able to claim that they were not using the mark in commerce. As it becomes easier for individuals to create products at home for their own use, we can expect that to change.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The amorphous doctrine of trademark dilution is another candidate for possible expansion in scope. Unlike traditional trademark, a use that dilutes a “famous mark” does not need to be in commerce, confuse consumers, or cause direct economic harm to the markholder. Whether or not a mark qualifies as sufficiently “famous” for dilution protection is determined by the application of a nonexclusive list of eight separate factors defined in the statute.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn49" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[49]</span></span></a> This would give the courts wide latitude to gradually expand what marks qualify as famous for the purposes of dilution.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;">Expansion of Liability</h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">One of the major lessons of the digital copyright battles is that it can be hard, expensive, and time consuming to find and prosecute individual infringers. In response, rightsholders have increasingly sought out ways to expand liability beyond infringers to those who facilitate such infringement.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn50" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[50]</span></span></a> As this effort expands further from infringing material, it becomes increasingly destructive:<span> </span>all computers can make copies, but if computer manufacturers and networking companies are held liable for every movie illegally downloaded from the Internet, the companies would quickly go out of business and the Internet would slow from a superhighway to a unpaved country lane.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The same will be said for 3D printing. Sophisticated 3D printers will be able to reproduce patented items, protected trade dress, and even ornamental objects protected by copyright. However, if rightsholders are allowed to hold the companies that make 3D printing possible liable for copies that individuals make, they will be unable to continue operating. If rightsholders are able to force 3D printing companies to forfeit a percentage of their sales as “compensation,” or to incorporate restrictive copy controls, the industry may very well stall before it reaches a mass market audience.<a name="_ftnref" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftn51" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[51]</span></span></a> For example, rightsholders could insist that, in order to avoid liability, 3D printer manufacturers incorporate restrictive DRM that would prevent their printers from reproducing CAD designs with “do not copy” watermarks.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <br /> <h2 style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Lucida Grande, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.238em; color: #bf100f; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Conclusion</span></h2> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The ability to reproduce physical objects in small workshops and at home is potentially just as revolutionary as the ability to summon information from any source onto a computer screen. Today, the basic outlines of this revolution are just starting to come into focus: 3D scanners and accessible CAD programs to create designs. Connected computers to easily share those designs. 3D printers to bring those designs into the real world. Low-cost, easy to use, accessible tools will change the way we think about physical objects just as radically as computers have changed the way we think about ideas.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The line between a physical object and a digital description of a physical object may also begin to blur. With a 3D printer, having the bits is almost as good as having the atoms. Information control systems that are traditionally applied to digital goods could start to seep out into the physical world.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The basic outlines of this revolution have not yet been filled in.<span> </span>In many ways, this is a gift. Setting the tools free in the world will produce unexpected outcomes and unforeseeable changes. However, the unknowable nature of 3D printing’s future also works against it. As incumbent companies begin to see small-scale 3D printing as a threat, they will inevitably attempt to restrict it by expanding intellectual property protections. In doing so they will point to easily understood injuries to existing business models (caused by 3D printing or not) such as lost sales, lower profits, and reduced employment.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">While thousands of new companies and industries will bloom in the wake of widespread 3D printing, they may not exist when the large companies start calling for increased protections. Policymakers and judges will be asked to weigh concrete losses today against future benefits that will be hard to quantify and imagine.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">That is why it is critical for today’s 3D printing community, tucked away in garages, hackerspaces, and labs, to keep a vigilant eye on these policy debates as they grow. There will be a time when impacted legacy industries demand some sort of DMCA for 3D printing. If the 3D printing community waits until that day to organize, it will be too late. Instead, the community must work to educate policy makers and the public about the benefits of widespread access. That way, when legacy industries portray 3D printing as a hobby for pirates and scofflaws, their claims will fall on ears too wise to destroy the new new thing.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> Michael Weinberg @ PublicKnowledge.org</p> </div> <div><br /> <hr size="1" style="height: 1px; border: 1px solid gray;" /> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn1" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[1]</span></span></a> Ashlee Vance, <em>3-D Printing Spurs a Manufacturing Revolution</em>, N.Y. Times, Sep. 13, 2010.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="&dagger;" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[†]</span></span></a> This discussion is necessarily focused on United States law. For an excellent discussion of how EC and UK law apply, see <a href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp" target="blank" style="color: #bf100f;">S Bradshaw, A Bowyer and P Haufe, "The Intellectual Property Implications of Low-Cost 3D Printing", (2010) 7:1 SCRIPTed 5</a>.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn2" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[2]</span></span></a> “Fixed in a tangible medium” is a term of art in copyright law, and a critical prerequisite for copyright protection.<span> </span>A work must be “sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration.” 17 U.S.C. § 101.<span> </span>In practice, this requirement distinguishes a speech made up on the spot and not written down (not fixed, and therefore not protectable under copyright) from a speech that is written down and then delivered (fixed, and therefore protected under copyright).<span> </span></p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn3" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[3]</span></span></a> <em>See </em>35 U.S.C. § 101.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn4" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[4]</span></span></a> <em>See </em>35 U.S.C. § 102.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn5" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[5]</span></span></a><em> See </em>35 U.S.C. § 103.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn6" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[6]</span></span></a> <em>See </em>35 U.S.C. § 112.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn7" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[7]</span></span></a> <em>See</em> 35 U.S.C. § 154 (a)(2).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn8" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[8]</span></span></a> <em>See</em> <em>Bullock Electric & Mfg. Co. v. Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co.</em>, 129 F.105, 109-10 (C.C.A.6 1904).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn9" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[9]</span></span></a> <em>See </em>35 U.S.C. § 101.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn10" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[10]</span></span></a> <em>See</em> <em>Leeds and Catlin Co. v. Victor Talking Machine Co.</em>, 213 U.S. 301, 318 (1909).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn11" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[11]</span></span></a> 15 U.S.C. § 1114.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn12" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[12]</span></span></a> <em>See</em> 15 USC § 1125(c).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn13" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[13]</span></span></a> Or, if the trademark is considered appropriately famous, as soon as you wear them in public.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn14" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[14]</span></span></a> <em>See Aro Mfg. Co. v. Convertible Top Replacement Co.</em>, 35 U.S. 336, 344 (1961) (<em>Aro I</em>).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn15" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[15]</span></span></a> <em>See Aro Mfg. Co. v. Convertible Top Replacement Co.</em>, 377 U.S. 476, 480 (1964 (<em>Aro II</em>).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn16" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[16]</span></span></a> <em>See Husky Injection Molding Sys. Ltd. V. R & D Tool & Eng’g Co.</em>, 291 F.3d 780, 785 (Fed.Cir. 2002).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn17" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[17]</span></span></a> <em>Id.</em><span> </span></p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn18" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[18]</span></span></a> <em>Id.</em> at 785-86 (quoting <em>Aero I</em>).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn19" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[19]</span></span></a> <em>Id. </em>at 786.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn20" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[20]</span></span></a> <em>Id.</em></p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn21" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[21]</span></span></a> Trade dress is a subsection of trademark law.<span> </span>A classic example of protectable trade dress is the curvy Coca Cola bottle (as opposed to the protectable trademark of “Coca Cola” written in its distinctive cursive script printed onto that bottle).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn22" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[22]</span></span></a> 35 U.S.C. § 171</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn23" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[23]</span></span></a> <em>See id.</em></p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn24" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[24]</span></span></a> <em>See</em> <em>Best Lock Corp. v. Ilco Unican Corp.</em>, 94 F3d 1563, 1566 (Fed. Cir. 1996).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn25" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[25]</span></span></a> <em>See id.</em></p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn26" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[26]</span></span></a> <em>See id</em> at 1567.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn27" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[27]</span></span></a> <em>See id</em> at 1566.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn28" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[28]</span></span></a> <em>See Design Patents and Auto Replacement Parts: Hearing Before the H. Comm. On the Judiciary</em>, 111th Cong. (2010).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn29" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[29]</span></span></a><span> </span>Daniel Brean, <em>Enough is Enough: Time to Eliminate Design Patent and Rely on More Appropriate Copyright and Trademark Protection for Product Design</em>, 16 Tex. Intell. Prop. L.J. 325, 364 (2008).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn30" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[30]</span></span></a> Although simple trade dress can be “inherently distinctive” from the moment it enters the marketplace, product design trade dress cannot be inherently distinctive and must acquire distinctiveness.<span> </span><em>See Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Brothers</em>, 529 U.S. 205, 215 (2000).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn31" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[31]</span></span></a> <em>Id.</em> at 213.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn32" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[32]</span></span></a> <em>See Traffix Devices v. Mktg. Displays</em>, 532 U.S. 23, 29 (2001).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn33" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[33]</span></span></a> <em>See id.</em> at 33.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn34" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[34]</span></span></a> <em>Id.</em></p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn35" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[35]</span></span></a> <em>Id. </em>at 35.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn36" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[36]</span></span></a> When downloading a file, a user creates a copy of that file on her own hard drive, thus implicating copyright.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn37" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[37]</span></span></a> <em>See</em> 35 U.S.C. 271 (c)</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn38" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[38]</span></span></a> <em>See Enpat, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.</em>, 6 F.Supp. 2d 537, 538 (E.D. Va. 1998) (citing <em>Joy Technologies, Inc. v. Flakt. Inc.</em>, 6 F.3d 770, 774 (Fed.Cir. 1993)).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn39" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[39]</span></span></a> <em>See, e.g. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.</em>, 545 U.S. 913, 932-33 (2005) (<em>Grokster</em>).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn40" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[40]</span></span></a> <em>See In re Bill of Lading Transmiss. & Processing Sys.</em>, 695 F. Supp.2d 680, 686-87 (S.D.O.H., 2010).<span> </span><em>See also Sony Corp of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.</em>, 464 U.S. 417, 442 (1984).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn41" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[41]</span></span></a> <em>See Ricoh Co., Ltd. V. Quanta Computer Inc., </em>550 F.3d 1325, 1334 (Fed. Cir. 2008).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn42" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[42]</span></span></a> <em>See Sony</em> at 442.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn43" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[43]</span></span></a> <em>See In Re Bill of Lading</em> at 687.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn44" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[44]</span></span></a> <em>See SEB S.A. v. Montgomery Ward & Co.</em>, 594 F.3d 1360, 1376 (Fed. Cir. 2010).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn45" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[45]</span></span></a> <em>See DSU Medical Corp. v. JMS Co., Ltd.</em>, 471 F.3d 1293, 1306 (Fed. Cir. 2006).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn46" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[46]</span></span></a> <em>See SEB S.A. </em>at 1377.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn47" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span>[47]</span></span></a> 17 U.S.C. § 1301 <em>et al</em>.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn48" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[48]</span></span></a> <em>See, e.g. Wal-Mart Stores</em>; <em>Traffix Devices</em>.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn49" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[49]</span></span></a> 15 U.S.C. § 1125 (c)(1)(A-H).</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn50" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[50]</span></span></a> <em>See, e.g. Grokster</em>.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a name="_ftn51" href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up#_ftnref" style="color: #bf100f;"><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span>[51]</span></span></a> <em>See, e.g.</em> 17 U.S.C. § 1001 – 1010</p> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">3D printing is technology that can turn digital files into physical reality. Design an object in a free program like <a href="http://www.blender.org/" target="_blank" style="color: #bf100f;">Blender</a> or <a href="http://sketchup.google.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #bf100f;">Google Sketchup</a>, or just use a <a href="http://blog.makerbot.com/2010/09/14/new-makerbot-cyclops-3d-scanner/" target="_blank" style="color: #bf100f;">3D scanner</a> to create a file. Once you have the file, send it to your 3D printer and wait for it to appear.</p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Like the Internet before it, 3D printing has the potential to be a revolutionary, disruptive technology. Because it allows people to create, copy, and modify objects, it will also have a large impact on our existing intellectual property laws. </p> <p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Unfortunately, also like the Internet before it, large incumbents may come to view this disruptive technology as a threat, and try to call people who use it pirates and thieves. That is why Public Knowledge is focusing on 3D printing now, before Congress starts hearing from the incumbents. By highlighting the benefits of 3D printing, we hope to make Congress think twice before passing laws to restrict this amazing technology.</p> </div></div></span></p> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/3d-printing-and-intellectual-property">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-54297368153326613382010-10-17T12:32:00.001-04:002010-10-17T12:32:25.967-04:00SolidWorks Free CB Model Pro enables rapid 3D organic modeling for 3D Printing<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><img src="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/images/aboutsplash.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small; color: #999999;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">CB Model Pro was built around the idea that surfaces should be manipulated directly. The result is a very intuitive and highly productive tool for 3D content creation that seamlessly fits into the production pipeline. CB Model Pro was developed by the creators of </span><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.cosmicblobs.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #4780ad;">Cosmic Blobs</a></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">, the award-winning entry-level 3D graphics software. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: small; color: #999999;">CB Model Pro is part of Dassault Systèmes exploratory initiative to promote the discovery and use of 3D to all kinds of consumers, in particular young users. Innovative technology development, with products such as CB Model Pro, and interaction with many market communities serves as an incubator for new software concepts and continues to drive thought leadership towards “3D For All."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: small; color: #999999;"><img src="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/images/galleryslide8_alienhead.jpg" alt="" /></span></span><img src="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/images/galleryslide1_alien.jpg" alt="" /><img src="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/images/galleryslide4_dog.jpg" alt="" /><img src="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/images/galleryslide9_malehead.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/images/gallerysteps.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p><img src="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/images/head_faqs.gif" alt="" /></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3; line-height: 18px;"> </span></p> <table border="0" align="left"> <tr> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;" width="25"><span class="boldcopy" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">Q:</span></td> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;" width="293">What can CB Model Pro be used for?</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><strong>A:</strong></td> <td align="left" valign="top">CB Model Pro enables rapid 3D organic modeling. Although applications for it are only limited by your imagination, we anticipate it to be particularly useful for conceptual design, industrial design, high resolution character design, and creating models to be used as normal maps.</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">Q:</td> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">What are the limitations of this beta?</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><strong>A:</strong></td> <td align="left" valign="top">The beta version is complete and fully functional. We welcome your feedback as we work towards version 1.0.</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">Q:</td> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">What is the output of CB Model Pro?</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><strong>A:</strong></td> <td align="left" valign="top">A model can be exported as a triangular mesh into several 3D formats, including the industry standard STL, VRML, and OBJ formats. VRML and OBJ output also includes texture coordinates and images.</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">Q:</td> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">How do I start modeling?</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><strong>A:</strong></td> <td align="left" valign="top"><ol> <li>Click on the sphere primitive at the top of the window to bring up a sphere.</li> <li>Click the Point Pull button on the right side of the window.</li> <li>Click and drag on the sphere to deform it.</li> <li>Move the slider at the bottom of the window to change the deformation shape.</li> <li>Explore the UI and read the documentation for other features.</li> </ol></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">Q:</td> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">How do I create a texture on my surface?</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><strong>A:</strong></td> <td align="left" valign="top">In paint mode use the paint brush and airbrush tools to paint the surface directly. You can also apply your image to a model. See the documentation for instructions on how to do this.</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">Q:</td> <td class="boldcopy" align="left" valign="top" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">Can I browse the documentation online?</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><strong>A:</strong></td> <td align="left" valign="top"> <p>Yes, <a href="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/docs/CBModelPro.pdf" style="color: #4780ad;">CB Model Pro Documentation</a>.</p> <p><img src="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/images/defaultsplash.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"> </span></p> <p class="head2" style="color: #f89843; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Visit our <a href="http://forum.solidworks.com/forum/categories.cfm?catid=68&entercat=y" target="_blank" style="color: #4780ad;">Forum</a> to join in the discussion.</strong></span></p> <p class="head2" style="color: #f89843; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>The CB Model Pro forum is new and improved so please refresh your browser or empty your cache to get the new link.</strong></span></p> <p class="copy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p class="copy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"><span style="font-size: small;">Free Download;</span> <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.cbmodelpro.com/download.html">http://www.cbmodelpro.com/download.html</a></span></p> <p class="copy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"> </p> <div><span class="head2" style="color: #f89843; font-weight: bold;">MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS</span></div> <p><span class="boldcopy" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">Windows</span><br />Windows 2000 or XP<br />Intel or AMD processor 1.5GHz; 512MB RAM; 64MB OpenGL compliant 3D video card<br />200MB hard disk space</p> <p class="copy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"><span class="boldcopy" style="color: #4780ad; font-weight: bold;">Macintosh</span><br />Mac OS X 10.3.9 Panther; 10.4 Tiger<br />G5 or Intel processor; 512MB RAM<br />200MB hard disk space </p> <p class="copy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"><span class="head2" style="color: #f89843; font-weight: bold;">THIS IS A 15-DAY FULLY-FUNCTIONAL BETA VERSION. <br />AFTER THIS PERIOD, YOU MUST REGISTER TO CONTINUE USING THE SOFTWARE ABSOLUTELY FREE OF CHARGE. </span><br />CB Model Pro beta version is distributed as a self-installing <br />executable.</p> <p class="copy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"> </p> <p class="copy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"><span style="color: #000000; font-size: 13px;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"><strong>Visit CB Model Pro</strong><span style="color: #000000; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"><strong>Community Fan Sites: </strong></span><span style="font-size: x-small; color: #9cb3c3;"><a href="http://cbmodelprofans.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #4780ad;">http://cbmodelprofans.blogspot.com/</a></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="color: #9cb3c3;">Video Tutorials; </span></strong></span><span style="font-size: 11px; color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/TMeeks/CB%20Model%20Pro/">http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/TMeeks/CB%20Model%20Pro/</a></span></div> <p> </p> <span style="font-size: 11px;"> </span><p class="copy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #9cb3c3;"> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </td> </tr> </table> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/solidworks-free-cb-model-pro-enables-rapid-3d">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-86102761172328354912010-10-02T10:07:00.001-04:002010-10-02T10:07:29.962-04:00Considerations when designing for 3D printing<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><strong style="font-weight: bolder;">A model must be ‘watertight’</strong> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;">If a 3D model contains holes or gaps it will not be suitable for 3D printing. The model must be completely closed or ‘watertight’ as it is more commonly referred to. This should be done before the model is exported as an STL file because it can be difficult to spot and fix the problem areas once it has been converted. This problem can also occur during file translation from one modelling system to another. You may wish to try <a href="http://www.micromouse.ca/" target="_blank" style="color: #8b001d; text-decoration: none;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Accutrans</span></a> if you want to fix the problem yourself or we can give you a quotation for carrying out the work. The example below shows several ‘gaps’ in the mesh indicating problem areas.</p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><img src="http://www.3dcreationlab.co.uk/~creation/library/image1.jpg" height="533" alt="" /></p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><strong style="font-weight: bolder;">Non-manifold objects</strong></p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;">Non-manifold objects cannot be printed; the basic definition of a non-manifold entity would be if it has edges that are shared between more than two faces. The picture below shows an example of this.</p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><img src="http://www.3dcreationlab.co.uk/~creation/library/image2.jpg" height="335" alt="" /></p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;">The two cubes shown in this picture have one edge in common and therefore are shared by four faces. If you are interested in the mathematics of manifolds have a look at this <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifold" style="color: #8b001d; text-decoration: none;">article</a></span>, but be warned it’s not for the faint hearted!</p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><strong style="font-weight: bolder;">Normals</strong></p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;">If your model contains inverted normals the printers will not be able to determine the inside or the outside of your model/mesh. All normals should be pointing in the correct direction. The picture below shows the normals (small blue lines) as all coming out of the model and are therefore correct. To show the surface normals in your modeling package refer to your software documentation, alternatively download <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank" style="color: #8b001d; text-decoration: none;">Meshlab</a></span> which can process STL files and show the surface normals. This Wikipedia article has more details on <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_normals" target="_blank" style="color: #8b001d; text-decoration: none;">surface normals</a></span>.</p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><img src="http://www.3dcreationlab.co.uk/~creation/library/image3.jpg" height="495" alt="" /></p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><strong style="font-weight: bolder;">Object size</strong><br />The maximum size of object will be determined by the process chosen, please refer to our materials section for more information. If your model is too large for our printers then the model can either be scaled down or broken down into smaller pieces that can be fitted together afterwards.</p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;"><strong style="font-weight: bolder;">Minimum wall thickness</strong></p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;">Minimum wall thickness is defined as the minimum thickness that your model should have at any given point. The pictures below give examples of a bad wall thickness and a good wall thickness that can be printed.</p> <div style="display: block; unicode-bidi: embed;"><img src="http://www.3dcreationlab.co.uk/~creation/library/image4.jpg" height="298" alt="" /></div> <div style="display: block; unicode-bidi: embed;">Example of no wall thickness</div> <br /> <div style="display: block; unicode-bidi: embed;"><img src="http://www.3dcreationlab.co.uk/~creation/library/image5.jpg" alt="" /></div> <div style="display: block; unicode-bidi: embed;">Example of a printable part</div> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;">The minimum printable wall thickness will depend on the process chosen, please refer to our materials section for more information.</p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;">Why is minimum wall thickness important? Having a thin wall section will make the model very delicate and this will cause problems when we try to remove the support material and also with the general handling of the model. If there are large areas of thin wall thickness this can also causes errors with the build of the model.</p> <p style="display: block; margin-top: 1.33em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.33em; margin-left: 0px; unicode-bidi: embed;">3dcreationlab</p> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/considerations-when-designing-for-3d-printing">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-7718526620974584302010-09-13T19:55:00.001-04:002010-09-13T19:55:48.689-04:00Are 3D-Printed Fabrics the Future of Sustainable Textiles?<div class='posterous_autopost'><p>Wearable Technology: <span style="font-size: 12px; color: #999999;">by <a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/author/jasmin/" title="Posts by Jasmin Malik Chua" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;">Jasmin Malik Chua</a>, 07/29/10</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12px; color: #999999;"><span style="color: #666666;"> <p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-20870" title="3D Printer Fabric by Freedom of Creation" src="http://media.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-printer-fabric-1.jpg" height="400" alt="3D printers, 3D printing, rapid prototyping, Freedom of Creation, eco-textiles, eco-friendly fabrics, eco-fashion, sustainable fashion, sustainable style, green fashion, wearable technology" style="" /></p> <p><a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/17545/the-secret-to-high-tech-armor-in-iron-man-2-3d-printing-on-demand/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Three-dimensional printing</a> may have little in common with sustainability—at first blush, anyway—but the rapid-prototyping process has a litany of surprisingly green benefits. The emerging technology, which uses ultraviolet beams to fuse layers of powdered, recyclable thermoplastic into shape, leaves behind virtually no waste. Its localized production and one-size-fits-all approach also racks up markedly fewer travel miles, requires less labor, and compresses fabrication time to a matter of hours, rather than weeks or months.</p> <div class="gallery" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;"><dl class="gallery-item" style="float: left; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; text-align: center; height: 75px; margin-left: 2px;"><dt class="gallery-icon"></dt><dt class="gallery-icon"><a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/20869/are-3d-printed-fabrics-the-future-of-sustainable-textiles/3d-printer-fabric-7/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><img class="attachment-thumbnail" src="http://media.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-printer-fabric-7-75x75.jpg" height="75" alt="" style="" width="75" /></a></dt></dl><dl class="gallery-item" style="float: left; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; text-align: center; height: 75px; margin-left: 2px;"><dt class="gallery-icon"></dt><dt class="gallery-icon"><a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/20869/are-3d-printed-fabrics-the-future-of-sustainable-textiles/3d-printer-fabric-6/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><img class="attachment-thumbnail" src="http://media.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-printer-fabric-6-75x75.jpg" height="75" alt="" style="" width="75" /></a></dt></dl><dl class="gallery-item" style="float: left; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; text-align: center; height: 75px; margin-left: 2px;"><dt class="gallery-icon"></dt><dt class="gallery-icon"><a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/20869/are-3d-printed-fabrics-the-future-of-sustainable-textiles/3d-printer-fabric-5/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><img class="attachment-thumbnail" src="http://media.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-printer-fabric-5-75x75.jpg" height="75" alt="" style="" width="75" /></a></dt></dl><dl class="gallery-item" style="float: left; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; text-align: center; height: 75px; margin-left: 2px;"><dt class="gallery-icon"></dt><dt class="gallery-icon"><a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/20869/are-3d-printed-fabrics-the-future-of-sustainable-textiles/3d-printer-fabric-4/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><img class="attachment-thumbnail" src="http://media.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-printer-fabric-4-75x75.jpg" height="75" alt="" style="" width="75" /></a></dt></dl><dl class="gallery-item" style="float: left; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; text-align: center; height: 75px; margin-left: 2px;"><dt class="gallery-icon"></dt><dt class="gallery-icon"><a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/20869/are-3d-printed-fabrics-the-future-of-sustainable-textiles/3d-printer-fabric-3/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><img class="attachment-thumbnail" src="http://media.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-printer-fabric-3-75x75.jpg" height="75" alt="" style="" width="75" /></a></dt></dl><dl class="gallery-item" style="float: left; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; text-align: center; height: 75px; margin-left: 2px;"><dt class="gallery-icon"></dt><dt class="gallery-icon"><a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/20869/are-3d-printed-fabrics-the-future-of-sustainable-textiles/3d-printer-fabric-2/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><img class="attachment-thumbnail" src="http://media.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-printer-fabric-2-75x75.jpg" height="75" alt="" style="" width="75" /></a></dt></dl><dl class="gallery-item" style="float: left; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; text-align: center; height: 75px; margin-left: 2px;"><dt class="gallery-icon"></dt><dt class="gallery-icon"><a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/20869/are-3d-printed-fabrics-the-future-of-sustainable-textiles/3d-printer-fabric-1/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><img class="attachment-thumbnail" src="http://media.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-printer-fabric-1-75x75.jpg" height="75" alt="" style="" width="75" /></a></dt></dl><br style="clear: both;" /></div> <p><span> </span><br /><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-20873" title="3D Printer Fabric by Freedom of Creation" src="http://media.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/3d-printer-fabric-4.jpg" height="400" alt="3D printers, 3D printing, rapid prototyping, Freedom of Creation, eco-textiles, eco-friendly fabrics, eco-fashion, sustainable fashion, sustainable style, green fashion, wearable technology" style="" /></p> <h3>UNIVERSAL REPLICATOR</h3> <p>Designer <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2006/02/19/freedom-of-creation-rapid-prototype-designs/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Jiri Evenhuis</a>, in collaboration with <a href="http://www.freedomofcreation.com/home/janne-kyttanen-interviewed-by-shapeways" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Janne Kyttanen</a> of <a href="http://www.freedomofcreation.com/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Freedom of Creation</a>, was the first to toy with the idea of using 3D printers to create textiles. “Instead of producing textiles by the meter, then cutting and sewing them into final products, this concept has the ability to make needle and thread obsolete,” Evenhuis has said.</p> <h2> <blockquote class="posterous_short_quote">3D printing has the “ability to make needle and thread obsolete,” says designer Jiri Evenhuis. <p> </p> </blockquote> </h2> <p>A decade later, designer-researchers like Freedom of Creation in Amsterdam and <a href="http://www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/15394.htm" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Philip Delamore</a> at the <a href="http://www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">London College of Fashion</a> are cranking out seamless, flexible textile structures using software that converts three-dimensional body data into skin-conforming fabric structures. The potential for <a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/9623/brooklyn-tailors-bespoke-clothing-for-the-discerning-gent/" style="color: #b15008; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">bespoke clothing</a>, tailored to the specific individual, are as abundant as the patterns that can be created, from interlocking Mobius motifs to tightly woven meshes.</p> </span></span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/are-3d-printed-fabrics-the-future-of-sustaina">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-86598970941534802022010-09-13T19:49:00.001-04:002010-09-13T19:49:02.135-04:00Printing in 3D Gets Practical<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #333333;"> <h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.7em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px;">Military surgeons, architects, and others are creating models with 3D printers.</h2> <p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?capId=7917214" style="color: #007cd5; text-decoration: underline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Walter Reed Army Medical Center</a> surgeons who treat soldiers wounded in the war in Iraq have grown accustomed to difficult operations. But some are more delicate than others. Take the patient who needed a bony tumor removed from the back of the knee. The growth was situated precariously near a nerve and an artery junction, leaving doctors no room for error. The orthopedic surgeon was able to try the procedure first using a model of the knee, helping him avoid hitting the nerve or artery during the actual surgery.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">But here's the kicker: The model was made not from a plaster cast but with a printer. Technicians first use software to transform a CT scan into a computerized 3D model, which is then sent to the printer. From there, the machine deposits ultra-thin layers of powder onto a surface, one on top of another, until it produces a 3D model. The powder is held together using a binding liquid that's deposited during printing. "With 2D images, it may be hard to visualize the full extent of the injury or the condition of the patient," says Peter Liacouras, senior medical engineer at Walter Reed. "We've had doctors say that with these 3D models, they get the feeling that they've been there before,"</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Although 3D printing has been around since the early 1990s, the quality has increased dramatically in recent years and the prices are just beginning to drop. Walter Reed uses the ZPrinter 450, made by <a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?capId=6816678" style="color: #007cd5; text-decoration: underline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Z Corp.</a>, which retails for about $39,900. But less expensive models are making their way to the market. Z Corp. sells an entry-level model, the ZPrinter 310, for less than $20,000. 3D Systems (<a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=TDSC" style="color: #007cd5; text-decoration: underline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">TDSC</a>) is developing a sub-$10,000 printer that the company hopes will be released by yearend. And, within the next six months, a company called <a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?capId=34512067" style="color: #007cd5; text-decoration: underline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Desktop Factory</a> hopes to launch a 3D printer for $4,995.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">"Now that the price of these 3D printers has dropped dramatically, almost any enterprise can afford to buy one, so the net result is that companies are using them more and more," says Pete Basiliere, research director at consulting firm Gartner (<a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=IT" style="color: #007cd5; text-decoration: underline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">IT</a>). Because of these price reductions, Basiliere estimates that there will be 300,000 3D printers on the market by 2011. There were 3,651 3D printers sold in 2007, according to Wohlers Associates, a Fort Collins (Colo.)-based consulting firm.</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0.1em; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.1em; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.3em; color: #333333; margin: 0px;">MORE AFFORDABLE</h3> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Falling prices are bringing 3D printing to smaller business, such as Sweet Onion Creations, a four-person company based in Bozeman, Mont., which builds scale architectural models. Co-founders Lee and Jake Cook purchased the ZPrinter 310, which cost $26,000 at the time, because it was more affordable and produced less waste than other printers. With a ZPrinter, the Cooks could create a model in one-sixth the time and at one-third the cost of a handcrafted 3D model. Jake Cook acknowledges that it's a new technology and not perfect. "There are challenges with it," he says. "The precision could be better."</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Now, Cook has his eye on Desktop Factory's sub-$5,000 printer. The idea behind the low-price machine came from Bill Gross, the founder of tech incubator <a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?capId=29723" style="color: #007cd5; text-decoration: underline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Idealab</a>. After the tech bubble burst, Gross was working with startups that relied on 3D printing to create prototypes for such items as components for robots and solar mirrors. "He paid $50,000 for the printer and each time he printed a [robotic part] it cost several hundred dollars," says Desktop Factory Chief Executive Cathy Lewis. Astounded by the expense, Gross asked an engineer to see if it might be possible to make less costly 3D printers. By 2004, the company was formed.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Lewis hopes a lower-priced 3D printer will expand the market further into such places as design firms, architecture firms, high schools, and colleges—even homes. "Right now 3D printers are behind locked doors in a big department," she says. In some cases, designers could use Desktop Factory's printers for early iterations, and then the more expensive machines for the finished model.</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0.1em; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.1em; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.3em; color: #333333; margin: 0px;">PROSTHETIC SURGERY</h3> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Indeed, Walter Reed Army Medical Center uses its 3D printer to help other medical facilities, including the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., which specializes in reconstructive surgeries involving facial prosthetics, such as new noses or ears. The previous procedure involved putting plaster on the patient's face to make a mask. Now, doctors can use an imaging device, essentially a 3D camera, along with software that creates a map of the person's face with the corresponding prosthetic. The 3D printer can then print out a mask that surgeons can use as a guide for reconstructive surgery.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">It's unlikely that a lower-end printer such as Desktop Factory's will be able to handle that kind of work any time soon. Still, in the coming years, 3D printing may become so advanced—and mainstream—that virtually any home would have a use for it. "One day you might be able to print out biomaterial at home, like a specially engineered bandage for your son or daughter's cut," Lewis says.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px; font-size: 12px;">by <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/bios/Rachael_king.htm" style="color: #007cd5; text-decoration: underline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Rachael King</a></span></p> <p class="tagline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; font-style: italic; color: #666666; padding: 0px;">King is a writer for <cite style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">BusinessWeek.com</cite> in San Francisco.</p> </p> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/printing-in-3d-gets-practical">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-82435694002233736192010-09-02T19:03:00.001-04:002010-09-02T19:03:47.849-04:00British Automotive Design & Manufacturing Firm Reduces Prototyping Times By 68%<div class='posterous_autopost'><table border="0" align="left" width="140"> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"> <p><img title="GordanMurray" src="http://www.fortus.com/uploadedImages/North_America/Resources/Case_Studies/Individual_Case_Study_Page/t25-citycar.jpg" border="0" height="98" alt="GordanMurray" width="147" /></p> <p> </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="HOMEnormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><em><span class="HOMEnormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">T.25 City Car by Gordon Murray Design.</span></em></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><img title="GordanMurray1" src="http://www.fortus.com/uploadedImages/North_America/Resources/Case_Studies/Individual_Case_Study_Page/GordonMurray1.jpg" border="0" alt="GordanMurray1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="HOMEnormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><em>Problem: Standard extruded seal kinks when following extreme curvature to maintain section.</em></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><img title="GordanMurray2" src="http://www.fortus.com/uploadedImages/North_America/Resources/Case_Studies/Individual_Case_Study_Page/GordonMurray2.jpg" border="0" height="131" alt="GordanMurray2" width="147" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="HOMEnormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><em>Solution: Tool set including sacrificial core to produce moulded seal.</em></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><img title="GordanMurray3" src="http://www.fortus.com/uploadedImages/North_America/Resources/Case_Studies/Individual_Case_Study_Page/GordonMurray3.jpg" border="0" height="110" alt="GordanMurray3" width="147" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="HOMEnormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><em>Result: Moulded seal, mould tool & core.</em></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><img title="GordanMurray4" src="http://www.fortus.com/uploadedImages/North_America/Resources/Case_Studies/Individual_Case_Study_Page/GordonMurray4.jpg" border="0" height="132" alt="GordanMurray4" width="147" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="HOMEnormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><em>New door seal without kinks.</em></span></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" height="225" align="right" style="height: 238px;" width="276"> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000; padding: 2px;"><span class="HOMEbold" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #666666; font-weight: bold;"><span class="NormalCopyBold" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: bold;"><span class="NormalCopyBold" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: bold;">How Does FDM Compare to Traditional Methods for Gordon Murray?</span></span></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"> <table border="0" style="height: 169px;"> <tr style="color: #ffffff;"> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;" width="141"><strong><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #ffffff;">Method</span></span></strong></td> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;" width="58"><strong><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #ffffff;">Cost Estimate</span></span></strong> </td> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;" width="62"><strong><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #ffffff;">Time Estimate</span></span></strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">Outside<br />prototyping</span></td> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">£ 1892</span> </span></td> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">75 hours</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">In-house prototyping<br />with Fortus</span></td> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">£</span> 792</span> </td> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">24 hours</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><strong>SAVINGS</strong></span></td> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><strong><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">£</span> 1100<br />(58%)</strong></span> </td> <td style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><strong>51 hours (68%)</strong></span></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <p><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> <p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #666666;">Gordon Murray Design, led by McLaren Formula One veteran Gordon Murray, is based in Surrey, UK. Since its inception in 2007, the company has been at the forefront of automotive intellectual property, design, prototyping and development. Its first prototype, the T.25 City Car made its first public appearance in June, 2010.</span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">The company invested in an additive manufacturing system in order to manage the entire design and prototyping process in-house. The machine is used in the Prototype Workshop to build multiple components for design and tooling.</span></span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopyBold" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: bold;">Real Challenge</span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">Gordon Murray had his epiphany moment whilst stuck in traffic on the A3 road in the UK. His motivation since that day has been to reduce congestion on roads by designing vehicles that are easier, cheaper and more ecological to run.</span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">The company is behind the iStream assembly process. Winner of the prestigious Autocar ‘Idea of the Year’ award in 2008, iStream constitutes a radical redesign of the traditional manufacturing process. The simplified assembly process means that the manufacturing plant can be designed to be 20% of the size of a conventional factory. This can reduce capital investment in the assembly plant by at least 80%. The process is also very flexible, meaning that more than one car can be manufactured on-site at the same time. In order to protect its intellectual property, have control over the overall design process and save on outsourcing costs, Gordon Murray Design purchased a Fortus 3D Production System from Stratasys.</span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">Gordon Murray cites ease of use and installation as being crucial for the company during the selection process. It was the reputation of Stratasys in the industry however that made them the perfect partner. “This has been demonstrated in Stratasys' commitment to forming an ongoing business relationship with us”, says Murray. "We have not had a single problem with either the machine or the company since day one."</span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><strong>Real Solution<br /></strong>Gordon Murray Design is fundamentally an R&D company, and as such the team is programmed to push design boundaries and solve problems. This has meant that they have been able to get more from the machine than they had ever envisaged. “We recently had a problem with the extrusions on rubber door seals", continues Murray. "Each time we tried to pull them into place the corners creased. We thought we would need to get a new tool molded just to enable us to pull the corners through. However, the designers decided to try the Fortus 400mc and managed to make both the tool and a soluble core directly on the machine. Into this mould, we were able to cast elastomer polyurethane resin to form the seals. The whole thing ending up costing us one pound instead of the twenty thousand pounds it would have cost to have it made off-site."</span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">Prototyping and manufacturing using the Stratasys machine plays a significant part in helping to reduce development costs across the board. The Fortus 400mc has been involved throughout the design and prototype of the company's inaugural vehicle, code named T.25. The T.25 represents a major breakthrough in city car design. It has been optimized through design for strength, performance, weight, cost, safety, usability, tooling, quality, energy efficiency, recyclability and ease of assembly. Billed as being a unique, cool and fun driving experience, the T.25 also has some vital properties for successful city driving, such as being able to park at 90 degrees to the curb, park up to 3 cars in one parallel space and significantly reduce environmental impact, both in terms of material contact and day-to-day operation.</span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">The Fortus 400mc was in use on the design of the T.25 every single day. It also outperformed its original expectations as Murray explains: "We were initially using the machine as a design tool but soon discovered that we could use it more and more for structural parts. In fact, we’ve designed the entire of the T.25 interior using the Stratasys machine - including the instrument panel, sun visor, internal mirrors and internal trim. We expect to be able to do the same with our next project, the T.27."</span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><strong>Real Benefits<br /></strong>The machine has helped Gordon Murray Design to significantly reduce costs and lead times associated with the production of many other prototype parts, enabling projects to be delivered quicker and more effectively. The company is now at work on its T.27, an all-electric three seater city car, made possible through a £4.5 million investment from the government-backed Technology Strategy Board.</span></p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;">"The Stratasys machine will continue to make a huge contribution to bringing this new car to market", concludes Murray. "We look forward to developing our relationship further as we continue to make our vision for a new range of fun, affordable and energy efficient cars a reality."<br /></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span class="NormalCopy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #666666; font-weight: normal;"><em>"We were initially using the machine as a design tool but soon discovered that we could use it more and more for structural parts. In fact, we’ve designed the entire of the T.25 interior using the Stratasys machine."<br />-Gordon Murray, Gordon Murray Design</em> </span> <a href="http://www.fortus.com/uploadedFiles/North_America/Resources/Case_Studies/Files_-_Case_Studies/AP-GordonMurray-FORTUS.pdf" title="GordonMurray" style="color: #3c76af; text-decoration: underline;">Download PDF</a></p> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/british-automotive-design-manufacturing-firm">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-48265340839009133362010-09-02T18:58:00.001-04:002010-09-02T18:58:26.083-04:003-D Printers Proliferate<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"> <h2 class="dekTitle" style="display: block; font-size: 14px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;">But desktop manufacturing isn't yet ready for your desk</h2> <p class="articleBodyTtl" style="color: #646464; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 500; padding-bottom: 10px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"><span style="">By</span> PAUL WALLICH / SEPTEMBER 2010</p> <div style="text-align: right; padding-top: 10px;"><a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/diy/3d-printers-proliferate#" style="color: #353535; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://spectrum.ieee.org/imgs_cntnt/tools_email.gif" alt="" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; float: left; text-align: inherit; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a><a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/diy/3d-printers-proliferate#" style="color: #353535; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://spectrum.ieee.org/imgs_cntnt/tools_print.gif" alt="" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; float: left; text-align: inherit; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a><a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/diy/3d-printers-proliferate#" style="color: #353535; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://spectrum.ieee.org/imgs_cntnt/tools_share.gif" alt="" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; float: left; text-align: inherit; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a> <p class="pgntn" style="color: #646464; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; margin: 0px;"> </p> </div> <div style="color: #454646; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 500; margin: 0px;"> <div class="articleBody"> <div style="float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://spectrum.ieee.org/image/1680915" height="276" alt="HP's 3-d printer with parts" style="padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 15px; padding-bottom: 10px; border-width: 0px;" width="464" /> <div class="artImgBy" style="font-size: 10px; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px;">Photos: Hewlett-Packard</div> <div class="artImgCptn" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 500; padding-bottom: 10px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #a6a6a6; margin: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; color: #989898;">PART SOLUTION:</strong> Make small plastic parts on your own with a 3-D printer, such as HP's [left].</div> </div> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">For years, visionary engineers have been touting the idea of a cheap box about the size of a microwave oven that could build arbitrary solid objects out of plastic, ceramics, metal, ice, and even living cells.</p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">During most of the 20-plus-year history of 3-D printing, "cheap" has been a distant vision, with industrial rapid-prototyping machines going for anywhere from US $15 000 to over $1 000 000. That number started to drop precipitously in 2007, with 3-D–printer designs from RepRap and Fab@Home that could be built for $500 to $2000 in materials (depending on what materials you wanted to print and how good you were at scrounging parts). This spring, 2-D printer giant Hewlett-Packard jumped on the moderate-price bandwagon, announcing it would introduce HP-branded 3-D printers (actually built by Stratasys) in Europe for 13 500, or about $17 500.</p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">If the price of a new compact car is more than you or your boss would like to spend, New York City start-up Makerbot Industries offers a small RepRap-derived printer kit for about $900. British RepRap parts supplier Bits From Bytes sells parts for a rather larger, reportedly more reliable unit for £750 (about $1200) and offers fully assembled machines for $3000 and up.</p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">But what are these machines actually good for? PR representatives for HP and Stratasys make it clear that their new machines are for mechanical engineers and designers to make mock-ups and prototypes of new ideas (and for educators teaching the next generation, who will likely work in a world where 3-D fabrication is commonplace), but not for consumers: Despite HP&apos;s reputation for building high-end consumer printers, this is not one of them.</p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">And although the fully assembled machines have established a strong reputation for reliability, do-it-yourselfers must beware the 3-D equivalent of the paper jam, which often involves scattered blobs of solidified plastic, smoking circuit boards, or half-melted motor mounting brackets. Internet forums and builder blogs are full of stories about hours spent rebuilding extruders, days tweaking the alignment of build platforms, and nights rewriting the software that "slices" designs into layers that can be built up on top of one another without drooping or warping or overtaxing a printer's tiny CPU. There is even a cottage industry of higher-strength spare parts for the kit components that are most likely to fail. If atoms are indeed the new bits, as the futurati have declared, then consider what the world will be like when mechanical objects are as buggy as the typical piece of software.</p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">Indeed, at the hacker level, the most popular print runs seem to be 3-D printer parts. If you want something built for use, you might have better luck shipping your design to one of the rapid-fabrication services that have sprung up all over the world.</p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">But Ian Adkins, technical director of Bits From Bytes, views things a little differently: Engineers, hackers, and educators have purchased thousands of the company's kits—initial production of the new fully assembled model is fully spoken for—and he is happy to report that at least some of his customers are building actual products as well as prototypes and models. If your annual production of any particular plastic bit is only a few hundred pieces, he says, the cost of a 3-D printer can be a fraction of the setup costs for machining or injection molding.</p> <p style="color: #000000; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 500; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">And if tinkering is part of the attraction, you'll join thousands of other hackers who are getting the design of extruders, construction platforms, structural frames, controller boards, and other parts just right. Yours could be the innovation that makes cheap fabrication a turnkey process for the rest of us.</p> </div> </div> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/3-d-printers-proliferate">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-5716657356829249912010-08-21T21:18:00.001-04:002010-08-21T21:18:37.409-04:00Automotive Rapid Prototyping<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: #21222c;"> <h2 class="PostHeader" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; color: #444755; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 29px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-top: 0.2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.2em; margin-left: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"><a href="http://car-holic.com/question-answer/automotive-rapid-prototyping-automotive-prototype-services/" title="Automotive Rapid Prototyping & Automotive Prototype Services" rel="bookmark" style="color: #df857d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 18px; text-align: left; margin: 0px;">Automotive Rapid Prototyping & Automotive Prototype Services</a></span></h2> <div class="PostContent" style="color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"> <div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg471/ariefwiryanto1/sexy%20car/s5s-prototype.jpg" alt="Automotive Rapid Prototyping & Automotive Prototype Services" style="margin: 0.2em; border: 0px solid #e6b79e;" /></div> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Source : saintstephen.info</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New product development and innovation is much more difficult and time consuming than most other business activities. Automotive rapid prototyping greatly enhances learning speed and reduces the risk of new <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/automotive-parts/" title="automotive parts" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">automotive parts</a> development.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Historically, the <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/automotive-industry/" title="automotive industry" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">automotive industry</a> has been using rapid prototyping as an important tool in the automotive parts design process. The extremely fast-paced <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/automotive-design/" title="automotive design" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">automotive design</a> cycles require an extremely fast <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/prototyping-system/" title="prototyping system" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">prototyping system</a> which can produce <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/cars" title="car" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">car</a> parts fast and inexpensively.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main objective of <strong><a href="http://www.2objet.com/Company/Markets/tabid/54/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">automotive prototyping</a></strong> is to learn quickly: how a new <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/automotive-product/" title="automotive product" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">automotive product</a>behaves in its natural working environment, before transferring the prototype to the production line. Many times, mistakes are learned only after a new automotive part is launched. This is the main explanation for poor automotive parts design, from product mismatch, poor engineering and function or finish, and overpriced production. In order to accelerate the learning curve, before these costly automotive prototyping mistakes are made, one must accelerate and facilitate feedback loops from tests in the lab and market trials.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Automotive <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/manufacturing-technologies/" title="Manufacturing Technologies" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Manufacturing Technologies</a></strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Working with an assortment of <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/rapid-prototyping-equipment/" title="rapid prototyping equipment" target="_blank" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">rapid prototyping equipment</a>, <strong><a href="http://www.2objet.com/CaseStudies/CaseStudies/tabid/189/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">automotive prototyping engineers</a></strong>utilize the most advanced <strong>3D printers</strong>, in their quest for perfect form, function and utility. Working in <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/advanced-manufacturing/" title="advanced manufacturing" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">advanced manufacturing</a> centers, the <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/automotive-engineers/" title="automotive engineers" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">automotive engineers</a> use the technology to verify what they are doing, and, equally important, to save tremendous amounts of time, and money.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">Automotive Rapid Prototyping Compresses </span><a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/development-time/" title="Development Time" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Development Time</a></strong></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The advantages of using 3D<strong> rapid prototyping</strong> model creation versus viewing a cad/cam model on a computer screen are palpable. Automotive parts engineers get together discuss the pros and cons of a rapidly produced <strong>automotive parts model</strong> and discuss the pros and cons of the design, as they pass it around, twisting and viewing the prototype, and decide if that is what they had in mind. This way, problems get solved up front, before going to the assembly line! Once determined that the <strong>automotive prototype design</strong> is a go, the model can then be sent to a die maker.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Automotive Prototyping and the Die Maker Process</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The die maker cannot use model to make the die, but because they have it in their hand and can look at it and feel it, they can determine where the parting lines will be and exactly how much steel they will need to produce it. The timing of the die process is greatly compressed.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Examples of Automotive Rapid Prototype Parts</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">· Car Engine parts</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">· Engine castings and parts</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">· <a href="http://car-holic.com/tag/auto" title="Auto" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Auto</a> <span style="color: #c0c0c0;">Body Components</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">· Auto Mechanical parts</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">· Car Dashboards</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">· Car Handles and Knobs</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">· Car Trim parts</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Fail first Paradox in Automotive Rapid Prototyping</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <strong><a href="http://www.2objet.com/Company/Awards/tabid/291/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">automotive rapid prototyping</a></strong> paradox is to fail earlier rather than later. By failing earlier, the design engineers surprisingly succeed in accelerating the project; this greatly reduces development cost risk. By considering all automotive prototype failures as learning experiments, the engineer has much less stress, knowing that they are practicing the old adage, that success comes from ninety-nine percent failure and introspection.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; color: #21222c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">Dan P. is a writer for Objet Geometries Ltd, an <a href="http://www.2objet.com/Company/Markets/tabid/54/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="color: #62667a; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">automotive prototyping</a> 3D printer manufacturer.</span></p> </div> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/automotive-rapid-prototyping">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-56858013447487173512010-08-16T14:41:00.001-04:002010-08-16T14:41:31.106-04:003D Printer Brings Kids Into Engineering Lab<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-size: 14px; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 12px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;"><em>This 3D Printer creates excitement for this cutting-edge program.</em></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 12px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">Was your car built before the turn of the new millennium? If so, chances are you’re among millions of Americans who have share a common problem: ill-fitting cup holders.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 12px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">Peter Grimm, an industrial technology teacher at Southview Middle School in Edina, MN, has challenged his eighth-grade pre-engineering students to find a solution for this messy problem. And the Dimension uPrint™ Personal 3D Printer is helping students find creative answers.</p> <div class="newscaption" style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: italic; font-size: 12px; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #dddddd; float: right; padding: 1px; margin: 12px;"><img src="http://www.modernapplicationsnews.com/enews/2010_June/images/106-495.jpg" height="188" alt="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;" width="250" /> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 12px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">This model was designed and developed using the Dimension 3D printer to fit properly in an existing car cupholder, thus increasing the functionality of the stock cupholder. Items are printed using durable industrial strength ABS Plastic.</p> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 12px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">Grimm first saw the educational power of 3D printing earlier in his career when he started a Minneapolis school’s partnership with Project Lead the Way (PLTW). PLTW is a national program that provides curriculum and partnerships with the private sector to increase the quantity and quality of engineers and engineering technologists graduating from our educational system.</p> <h4 style="margin-top: 4px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 12px; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: black; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 0px;">Weighing the Options</h4> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 12px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px;">After transferring from Minneapolis to Edina schools, Grimm started the PLTW partnership at Southview and began investigating the purchase of a 3D printer to enhance the program. While teaching in Minneapolis, Grimm had several years of experience with printers from Dimension and a competitor. “The Dimension printer was just better suited for the educational environment,” said Grimm. “The cost, ease of use, and durability of the printed models produced led me to choose a Dimension 3D Printer.”</p> <p /> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/3d-printer-brings-kids-into-engineering-lab">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-69051279635156306382010-06-30T11:00:00.001-04:002010-06-30T11:00:50.322-04:00Interview: Objet Continues to Grow, Innovate<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="line-height: 14px;"> <p>If you were to source the 3D printer that has the best combination of material selection, office compatibility, and part accuracy, performance and finish, you'd probably pick an<a href="http://www.objet.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #0000ff; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">Objet Geometries</a> printer. The Israeli company is an innovation leader - owning over 50 patents and patents pending - and is the only company that offers a 3D printer that will perform multiple-material part building.</p> <p>This month RapidToday interviewed Gilad Gans, Objet's executive vice president of marketing, sales and business development. Following is an edited transcript.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: How much has Objet been growing in recent years?<p /></strong><strong>Gans</strong><strong>:</strong> Objet Geometries Ltd is a privately held company and as such we aren't at liberty to disclose our financials. We are proud to report that despite the difficult economic situation worldwide, we continue to be very strong financially. Our customers are spending their money differently in 2009 but overall we have seen an</p> </span></p> <table border="0" align="left" style="height: 20px;" width="20"> <tr> <td> <img title="Connex500 3D printer from Objet Geometries" src="http://www.rapidtoday.com/images/connex500.jpg" height="258" alt="Connex500 3D printer from Objet Geometries" width="300" /><br /> <p><strong>The Objet Connex500 uses a patented PolyJet Matrix technology to print multiple materials simultaneously</strong></p> </td> </tr> </table> <p><span style="line-height: 14px;">increase in the total number of units sold this year, as we have every year. <p><strong>RapidToday: Did Objet suffer much from the recent recession?<p /></strong><strong>Gans:</strong> 2009 was a very challenging year for the 3D printing and rapid prototyping industry, and for Objet as well. Maintaining sales volumes and convincing our customers to focus on technologies and capabilities that would help them to position themselves better when the crises ends were major tasks.</p> <p>In comparison to many others, Objet has suffered less as it has maintained a strong revenue stream from consumables, primarily from resins. While some segments have been using less resin, others have increased their resin consumption - ironically as a result of recessionary pressures - as they are using our solutions to save money. Doing more in-house prototyping decreases their ‘cost-of-error' and enables faster time to market - the two things that really matter during a recession.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: How big is the company today?<br /></strong><strong><br />Gans:</strong> Objet Geometries employs three hundred people across our seven locations worldwide.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: What is the top ambition of Objet? Be the 3D printer unit volume leader? Transform product development and manufacturing? Introduce more 3D printer innovations than any of your competitors?</strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong> Objet's aim is to be recognized and respected as the premier provider of 3D printing solutions. We believe that the way to achieve this is to continue to leverage the high standard of quality that Objet is known for due to our PolyJet and PolyJet Matrix Technologies and to continue to develop new materials for use on all our platforms, across the board.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: Who do you see as your biggest competitor? Z Corp? 3D Systems? Roland CNC? Someone else?</strong></p> <p><strong>Gans</strong><strong>:</strong> Every one of our competitors has a solution for niche segments of the broad market that we cover. However, we don't believe any of their offerings are as inclusive as our range of 3D printing solutions. We see the biggest challenge, not just for Objet but for all the players in our space, is to increase market awareness. As more and more businesses see the advantages that 3D printing can bring, all of us will be able to grow. There is ample room for all of us.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: What 3D printer capability does your average customer most value? Multiple material printing? Model quality? Material selection? Something else?</strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong><em> </em>PolyJet and PolyJet Matrix technologies offers value in different ways for many different segments. For example, while one industry may place a premium on model quality, another may be more focused on overmolding capabilities, and for another high accuracy might be the most important capability. The most important point here is that Objet provides value to all of these segments, from automotive, toys, equipment, sporting goods, education, and medical, to industrial, defense and jewelry and many more.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: Does Objet have much luck selling 3D printers in low-labor-cost countries like China and India? </strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong> The value of Objet 3D printing solutions is in their high quality and advanced capabilities that other technologies can not provide, rather than in a low price offering. While we do have a number of high end solutions, it is important to note that we also have affordable smaller size printers, such as the Alaris30 Desktop 3D Printer and the Eden250 3D printer. </p> <p>It is noteworthy that in countries traditionally considered to very cost-sensitive, like China and India, our solutions are valued precisely because of their quality and capabilities and our unit sales are high. In fact, China is our third largest customer in terms of units sold.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: If a company employs a full-time model maker, how quickly would you anticipate they would get payback by replacing him and buying an Objet machine?</strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong> We are proud that in almost every instance the return-on-investment for using an Objet 3D printing system is quick. We hear back from customers who report that after approximately three months the cost of the machine has been fully recouped by savings and/or increased business.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: Do some customers use Objet 3D printers for low volume manufacturing? </strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong> Yes, companies who do low volume manufacturing also benefit from Objet 3D printers. The range of applications is very wide, including silicone molding and rapid tooling. In fact, one of our strongest competitive advantages is the post-processing capabilities our models offer, which enable sanding, painting, metal coating and more. The wide variety of materials within the FullCure® family enables low-volume manufacturing of parts that would use different types of rigid and flexible elastomers, with varied hardness values.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: Does Objet use a similar business model as 2D printer manufacturers - sell the machine at cost or near cost, and earn the profit on the sale of resin? </strong></p> <p><strong>Gans</strong><strong>:</strong> This model is not being used in the 3D printing industry and most, if not all, companies depend on their machine sales for profit generation.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: Does being headquartered in Israel give Objet an advantage over other 3D printer manufacturers?</strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong> Being headquartered in Israel enables us to take advantage of the special skill sets in a wide array of engineering and science fields that are available here. Israel has a huge pool of professionals with experience in inkjet technology, algorithms, chemistry, mechanics and software who work at a very high level. So yes, I believe our location gives us an advantage.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: Do you plan to open a South America or Australia office?</strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong> We are continuing opening local offices where we see the need and the benefit. Recently we opened offices in Mexico, Japan and increased our presence in China.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: What do customers want Objet to work on next? Lower cost of printers or material? More capability? Better usability? More materials? Something else?</strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong> All these things are wanted by different segments. We believe that our customers would like to see us work on all of the above and we are even recruiting people with experience in varied markets to better understand and tailor solutions for specific segments.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: What percent of sales goes back into R&D? What R&D is Objet currently working on?</strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong> We plan to continue investing heavily in infrastructure and R&D to help drive our ongoing growth. Over the next year or so we will be developing new products in our Eden and Connex families of 3D printers, as well as new model materials -- all designed to meet our customer's changing needs and take advantage of emerging opportunities.</p> <p><strong>RapidToday: Where does the name Objet come from?</strong></p> <p><strong>Gans:</strong> combination of "object" and "jet". The "jet" part of the name refers to the jetting of the Objet materials, similar to the way inks are jetted in an inkjet document printer.</p> <p> </p> <p>Source; rapidtoday.com</p> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/interview-objet-continues-to-grow-innovate">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-64014924718903310752010-05-27T19:40:00.001-04:002010-05-27T19:40:43.694-04:00Iron Baby, #IronMan movie parody<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><strong><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; color: #808080; font-size: small;">Iron Man movie parody</span></strong></p> <p><object height="360" width="450"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/SyoA4LXQco4&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&hd=1&border=1" /></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /></param><embed allowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/SyoA4LXQco4&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&hd=1&border=1" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="360" width="450"></embed></object></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/iron-baby-ironman-movie-parody">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-76001401608765524622010-05-11T20:47:00.001-04:002010-05-11T20:47:43.100-04:003D Printer Processes: Five Basic Functions<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, sans-serif;"> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium; color: #ff0000;"><strong>3D Printing</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">Three-dimensional printing or rapid prototyping is considered as a technology that creates a design out of a computer-aided method. Using 3d printers, different models are used. In fact, the output is utilized not only for creation of products for a consumer’s consumption. It can also be functional for relaying ideas to employees in a workplace.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">These 3d modeling techniques make use of prototypes. But to make the work even faster, rapid tooling is also employed. Both small production runs and complicated object designs rely upon this type of technology. To make you appreciate more about this technological concept, take a look at its five basic processes.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>The 5 basic processes behind 3d printers</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">Each company may employ different techniques to create 3d models. But from all these differences, there are also similar processes that are essentially included in production. These are the five basic functions adapted by businesses:</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>1. 3D model creation.</strong></span> This is that part of the process where the computer aided design software – CAD software – is used. The CAD software package creates 3d models out of a specified material. Solid modelers are said to be better than wire-frame modelers in that they produce more accurate models. As for design options, the designer chooses between an existing design and a pre-made design of the client.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>2. STL-format conversion.</strong> </span>After creating the models from the software, they are converted to stereolithography or STL format. In this part of the process, complicated parts need to be given much attention. Since the STL format cannot represent curved areas, increasing the number of triangles will be needed. The designer should focus on manageability and accuracy to have a useful design file from the STL format.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>3. Slicing of the STL file.</strong> </span>This is the process where the 3d model is adjusted depending on its size, location and orientation. The STL model is sliced or divided into several parts that range from .01 mm thin to .07 mm thick. An auxiliary structure is also produced in the process. This will help support 3d models during the building process.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>4. Layering.</strong></span> Also known as the layer by layer construction, this is the process where the part is actually constructed. The 3d printer builds the layer one after the other. Materials such as polymers, powdered metal and paper are utilized during the layering process.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>5. Finishing.</strong></span> This is critical to the post-production process. It is just like polishing or applying varnish on furniture. In this process of 3d printing, the prototype is cleaned. It is done by removing it from the gadget while also considering the removal of detachable supports. Photosensitive materials need to undergo curing before they are actually used. Surface treatment such as sealing, sanding and painting may also be employed.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">After knowing these processes in 3d printers technologies, it would be easier for you to understand the product’s real purpose. It also gives you an idea of how you may utilize it for your business or personal consumption. In short, these 3d modeling technologies make the model available for various applications.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;">3dprinterstore.com</p> <p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #c0c0c0;"><br /></span></p> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/3d-printer-processes-five-basic-functions">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-80281563347319840942010-05-10T16:09:00.001-04:002010-05-10T16:09:20.871-04:00High-temperature stereolithography resin - Accura Peak Plastic<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>3D Systems</strong></span><a href="http://www.engineerlive.com//articles_designEngineer/?/Computer_Systems_Software/2008/01/17/19769/High-definition_3D_printer_to_be_launched/3D+Systems+Corporation/" style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;"> </a>is launching Accura Peak Plastic, a newly engineered <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>stereoligraphy</strong></span> resin that is designed for optimal performance, accuracy and stability during prolonged exposure to elevated temperature and humidity.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Accura Peak Plastic</strong> is suitable for demanding automotive, aerospace and motorsports applications whose harsh conditions require strength, stiffness and high levels of thermal and humidity stability. Accura Peak Plastic is a precision material for the production of high-definition master patterns, fixtures and jigs, thermoforming tools and functional models requiring accuracy and long-term dimensional stability. Additionally, the properties of this new plastic make it a natural fit for the custom production of under-the-hood automotive parts for performance evaluations.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: small;">Steve Hanna, <strong>3D Systems</strong>' director of materials sales and marketing, comments: <strong>"Accura Peak Plastic is a breakthrough material specifically tailored for extreme operating environment applications for our growing base of automotive, motorsports and aerospace users. This new plastic also supports our geographic expansion plans into regions of the world where extreme ambient conditions dictate this level of performance stability."</strong></span><br /> <img src="http://www.engineerlive.com/media/images/0955373001273141949__3D_Systems.jpg" alt="High-temperature stereolithography resin - Accura Peak Plastic" /></span></p> <p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">Designed for use with iPro and Viper SLA systems, Accura Peak Plastic is available immediately through the company's 3Dproparts network.</span></p> <div><span style="font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.engineerlive.com/">http://www.engineerlive.com/</a><br /></span></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/high-temperature-stereolithography-resin-accu">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-77101302571584882812010-05-10T13:51:00.001-04:002010-05-10T13:51:19.583-04:00Iron Man 2's Secret Sauce: 3D Printing<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #333333;"> </span></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; font-size: 12px; color: #333333;"> </span></p> <div> <div style="font-family: Georgia, Geneva, serif; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; color: #808080; float: left; display: inline; margin-right: 20px;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #ff6600;">Exclusive pics of the 3-D printing process behind the</span> <em>Iron Man 2</em> <span style="color: #ff6600;">costumes.</span></span></div> <br class="clear" style="clear: both; font-size: 1px; height: 1px;" /> </div> <div class="content"> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><img class="float-center" src="http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/IRON-MAN-Tony-Stark1.JPG" border="0" height="375" alt="Iron Man 2" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block;" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em>Iron Man 2</em></span> <span style="color: #0000ff;">opens Are you excited? Really? Huh. Well, keep reading anyway. You know someone's gonna drag you into a showing.</span></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0000ff;">On screen, with all those suits whirling into place, you'd probably assume that the "costumes" are merely virtual. Actually, they're not: Maybe the most cutting-edge facet of<em>Iron Man 2</em>'s production was the real-life fabrication of the suits. Using 3-D printers, the film's production company, Legacy Effects, was able to have artists draw an art concept--and then physically make that concept in just four hours.</span></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><img class="float-center" src="http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/Iron%20Man%20II%204.jpg" border="0" height="414" alt="" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block;" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Each layer is just microns thick, and the product gets printed from the bottom up.</span></p> </div> <p> </p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0000ff;">The product emerges completely finished. All you need is some paint. Basically, if Tony Stark was real, he wouldn't be sitting around in a tool shop. He'd be clicking on a CAD program, and then kicking his feet up as his suit was printed.</span></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0000ff;">In addition to speed, the benefit is that you can print out costumes custom fitted to the actors, down to the millimeter. And with custom-fitted suits, Robert Downey, Jr. and Mickey Rourke can put a lot more action into their fight scenes, without the wonky effect of layering on too much CGI. (Downey complained that the original Iron Man suits, which were made more traditionally, were too clunky to act in, and extremely uncomfortable.)</span></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Maybe the best example are the gloves that Downey wore--which were no thicker than a dime, and could be worn for hours without getting so hot that the dude needed some Colombian Marching Powder to take the edge off:</span></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><img class="float-center" src="http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/Iron%20Man%20II%202.jpg" border="0" height="414" alt="Iron Man 2 costume" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block;" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><img class="float-center" src="http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/Iron%20Man%20II%203.jpg" border="0" height="414" alt="Iron Man 2 costume" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block;" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><img class="float-center" src="http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/Iron%20Man%20II%205.jpg" border="0" height="412" alt="Iron Man 2 costume" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block;" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs547.ash1/31944_392300396107_544101107_3850227_5840762_n.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; font-size: 12px; color: #333333;"><cite style=""><span class="by" style="font-size: 10px; color: #999999;">BY</span> <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/user/150726" title="View user profile." style="color: #003366; text-decoration: none;">CLIFF KUANG</a></cite><span class="timestamp" style="margin-left: 5px; font-size: 11px; color: #333333; font-weight: normal;">Fri May 7, 2010 </span></span></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: georgia, geneva; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; font-size: 12px; color: #333333;"><span class="timestamp" style="margin-left: 5px; font-size: 11px; color: #333333; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.fastcompany.com">http://www.fastcompany.com</a></span><br /></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/iron-man-2s-secret-sauce-3d-printing">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-58810063665628229002010-05-08T15:04:00.001-04:002010-05-08T15:04:42.591-04:00MONTREAL COMIC CON<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #333333;"> <h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" style="font-size: 13px; color: #333333; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="UIStory_Message">Écoutez l'émission #167 des Mystérieux étonnants à<a href="http://www.mysterieuxetonnants.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="cursor: pointer; color: #3b5998; text-decoration: none;">http://www.mysterieuxetonnants.com/</a></span></h3> </span></p> <table border="0"> <tr> <td class="NormalText" align="left" valign="top" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Claremont" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;">CHRIS CLAREMONT</a></p> <p>Writer Chris Claremont has encountered more success than most writers ever dream of. His stories have achieved best-seller status, won numerous awards, and are trend-setters for the industry. Although best known for his work on Marvel Comic’s X-Men series, he has written other seminal characters such as Batman and Superman; originated several creator-owned series; is published throughout the world in many different languages; authored nine novels; and even had his first video game premier in Spring 2006. His work has touched millions</p> </td> </tr> </table> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Claremont">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Claremont</a></p> <p><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; color: #555555;">Liste des artistes du 9 mai / List of artists on May 9th :<p />Carl Bois<br />- Charles-Emmanuel Ouellette<br />- Eric Thériault<br />- Forteresse impériale du Québec<br />- Front froid<br />- Geof Isherwood - Jammy Poulin - Jimmy Suzan<br />- Kate Bradley -<br />Kelly Tindall<br />- Nadim Mahi-Bahi<br />- Noumier Tawilah<br />- Richard Serrao<br />- Sanya Anwar<br />- Simon Banville<br />- Visions Found -<br />Wes Craig</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #333333;"> <h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" style="font-size: 13px; color: #333333; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="UIStory_Message">SciFi Anime fais parti de nos exposants le 9 Mai au Comic Con de Montreal.<br />SciFi Anime will be exhibiting on May 9th at the Montreal Comic Con.</span></h3> <p><span class="UIStory_Message"><a href="http://www.scifianime.ca/">http://www.scifianime.ca/</a><br /></span></p> </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; color: #333333; font-size: small;">Le Club Modelfest sera au Comic Con le 9 Mai 2010.Club Modelfest will be exhibiting at the Montreal Comic Con 2010.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; color: #333333; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"> <h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" style="font-size: 13px; color: #333333; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="UIStory_Message">Un de nos exposants (Maladie des Cartes) aura une nouvelle selection de <br />plus de 200 nouvelles Figurines/Toys à vendre pour seulement 5$ chaque<br />au Montreal Comic Con le 9 Mai.<br />One of our Toys exhibitors (Maladie des Cartes) will have a new collection of <br />over 200 new Toys for sale at only 5$ at the Montreal Comic Con on May 9th.</span></h3> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #333333;"> <h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" style="font-size: 13px; color: #333333; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>*** HEROES OF THE NORTH***</strong></span></h3> <h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" style="font-size: 13px; color: #333333; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="UIStory_Message">- A brand new exclusive teaser trailer cut exclusively for the occasion;<br />- A Five (5) pages sneak peek at The Canadian Shield #1 comic,<br />the first comic of the Heroes of the North Universe;<br />- A first glimpse at the design for the Crimson figurine;<br />- A few more surprises and exclusive stuff!<br />Hope to see you there!</span></h3> <p><span class="UIStory_Message"><br /></span></p> <h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" style="font-size: 13px; color: #333333; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style="font-size: 11px;"> <div class="UIIntentionalStory_Header"> <h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" style="font-size: 13px; color: #333333; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="UIStory_Message">Jennifer Aubin sera responsable du concours de costumes.<br />Jennifer Aubin will be in charge of the costume contest</span></h3> </div> <div class="UIStoryAttachment" style="margin-top: 6px; padding-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px;"> <div class="UIStoryAttachment_Media UIStoryAttachment_MediaSingle" style="float: left; padding-right: 10px;"> <div class="UIMediaItem UIMediaItem_Photo"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3589601&id=161293941887" style="cursor: pointer; color: #3b5998; text-decoration: none;"></a></div> </div> </div> </span>For more inf<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ormation about the Montreal Comicon and their other events, <br />please visit their website:<a href="http://www.montrealcomiccon.com/home.htm#gi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="cursor: pointer; color: #3b5998; text-decoration: none;"><span>http://www.montrealcomiccon.com/home.htm</span><span class="word_break" style=""> </span>#gi</a></span></span></h3> </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; color: #555555;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.cmdstore.com/">http://www.cmdstore.com/</a><br /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"> <p><span class="MainTitle" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 14px; color: #333333;">Schedule and location</span> <p /><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">Sunday, May 9<sup>th</sup>, from 11:00am to 5:00pm <p /><a href="http://www.placebonaventure.com/" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;">Place Bonaventure</a>, room 200-N <br />800, rue de la Gauchetière Ouest, Montreal (Quebec) H5A 1K6 <p /></span><span class="MainTitle" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 14px; color: #333333;"><img src="http://montrealcomiccon.com/images/bubbleRed.png" height="15" alt="" width="13" />Admission fee</span><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><p />General admission:<strong style="color: #000000;"> $5</strong> / Children under 6 and all moms (coming with at least one child): <strong style="color: #000000;">FREE</strong></span></p> <p><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><strong style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tickets will be only available at the entrance.</span></strong></span></p> <p><span class="MainTitle" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 14px; color: #333333;"><img src="http://montrealcomiccon.com/images/bubbleRed.png" height="15" alt="" width="13" />Costume contest</span></p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">There will be a costume contest on May 9th. Five hundred dollars ($500) will be awarded to winners, as follows:</p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">- Every hour from 12:00pm to 4:00pm, a winner will be declared and will receive a $100 credit to spend at any exhibitor or artist booth.</p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">- The registration will be at the entrance and is free of charge.</p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">- Costumes of all genres are welcome, from designs recreated from movies, TV, comic books, fantasy art and Japanese anime, to never-before-seen original designs from the imaginations of our contestants.</p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">- Jennifer Aubin will be in charge of the contest. Also, Henry Wong will be the official photographer.</span></p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">- Costumes will be judged on originality and on how contestants fit into their character.</span><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"> Note: A homemade costume has an advantage over a store-bought costume.</span></p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"> </p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">LOCATION;</p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=800,%20rue%20De%20La%20Gaucheti%C3%A8re%20O.Montr%C3%A9al%20(Qu%C3%A9bec)%20,%20Montreal,%20QC"><iframe scrolling="no" marginheight="0" class="google-map" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=800,%20rue%20De%20La%20Gauchetière%20O.Montréal%20(Québec)%20,%20Montreal,%20QC&output=embed" frameborder="0" height="400" width="500"></iframe><br /> </a><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=800,%20rue%20De%20La%20Gauchetière%20O.Montréal%20(Québec)%20,%20Montreal,%20QC&source=embed">View Larger Map</a></a></p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">PARKING;</p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><a href="http://www.placebonaventure.com/English/services_3.htm">http://www.placebonaventure.com/English/services_3.htm</a></span></p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"> </p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"><span class="MainTitle" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 14px; color: #333333;"><img src="http://montrealcomiccon.com/images/bubbleRed.png" height="15" alt="" width="13" />Accommodation</span><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"> <p />There are plenty of accommodations in Montreal for all kinds of budgets. Here are a few suggestions based on the proximity of the convention venue. <p /><a href="http://www.hiltonmontreal.com/eng/html/index.asp" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;">Hilton Montreal Bonaventure</a></span></span></span></p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><a href="http://www.hiltonmontreal.com/eng/html/index.asp" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;"></a><a href="http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=463&localeoverwrite=" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;">Sheraton Centre Montreal</a></span></span></span></p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"> </p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">...SOLIDWILD HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE ! </span></span></span></p> <p class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"><span class="NormalText" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #000000;">***HAPPY MOTHERS DAY / BONNE FÊTE DES MÈRES*** XOXOXO...</span></span></span></p> </span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/montreal-comic-con">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-66934099968918889872010-04-26T20:06:00.001-04:002010-04-26T20:06:14.266-04:00The Intellectual Property Implications of Low-Cost 3D Printing<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #d0d0d0; font-weight: bold;"> <div style="background-image: ; background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #303030; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <div style="clear: both; font-size: 0.9em; padding: 0px;"> <div style=""> <h2 style="">1. Introduction</h2> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Throughout recorded history most people who have wanted a household article have bought or bartered it from someone else – in past times an artisan or trader, more recently a seller of mass-produced products. With few exceptions (such as some clothing) it is rare that any of us make such articles for ourselves these days. That may soon change. Thirty years ago only dedicated enthusiasts would print their own photographs or edit and reproduce their own newsletters. The advent of the home computer, and in particular of low-cost high-quality printers, has now made such things simple and commonplace. Recent developments in producing affordable and hobbyist-friendly printers that can reproduce three-dimensional rather than just flat objects may mean that printing a toast-rack or a comb becomes as easy as printing a birthday card.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Any lawyer familiar with copyright and trade mark law can see, however, that printing one’s own birthday cards could, depending on the source and nature of the images used, infringe a number of intellectual property (IP) rights. Tempting as it may be to copy and use a picture of a well-known cartoon character, the resulting cards would very likely be an infringement of the copyright and perhaps trade marks owned by the relevant rights holder. But what if someone uses a printer capable of producing a mobile phone cover bearing such an image? Or reproducing a distinctively-styled piece of kitchenware? What about printing out a spare wing-mirror mount for your car? Do these uses infringe IP rights?</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">In the first part of this paper, we review the history of 3D printing and describe recent developments, including a project initiated by one of the authors to bring such printers into the home. We then examine the IP implications of personal 3D printing with particular reference to the bundle of rights that would typically be associated with a product that might be copied.</p> <h2 class="western" style="">2. Personal 3D Printing: The Technical Aspects of Home Manufacturing</h2> <h3 class="western" style="">2.1. A Brief History of Manufacturing</h3> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">People have three ways to make solid objects:</p> <ol> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Cutting shapes out of a block of material;</p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Adding material piecemeal to build up shapes; and</p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Forming material that is liquid or plastic into the required shapes that then set.</p> </li> </ol> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">All forming processes are secondary in the sense that the dies and moulds for them must initially be cut or built by one of the other two primary processes. Pre-industrial examples of these three are carving wood, bricklaying, and moulding a jelly.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Since the industrial revolution, an enormous number of variations on these three techniques have been developed and pre-industrial techniques have been much refined. Cutting and forming have, in particular, received a great deal of attention, resulting in sophisticated lathes and milling machines for cutting, and injection-moulding and die-casting machines for forming. </p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Just after the Second World War, John Parsons invented the idea of numerical control.<a name="sdfootnote4anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote4sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">1</a> In this, a manufacturing machine has all its parameters and variables continually controlled by a computer, allowing a previously hand-controlled process to be completely automated. A typical numerically-controlled machine tool is a lathe or a mill that can produce a complicated-shaped part from a simple block entirely without human intervention. This idea has been called the Second Industrial Revolution, and - directly or indirectly – it is the basis of virtually every engineering product that is made and sold today.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Since the creation of the microcomputer in the late 1970s the cost of numerically-controlled machine tools has fallen dramatically and it is now possible for organizations of modest means (such as schools) and also private individuals in the developed world to own lightweight ones. However, the vast majority of all these machines - heavy and light - are still cutting machines, as opposed to additive or moulding machines.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Numerically-controlled cutting machines suffer from an inherent problem: given a computer model of a shape to be made, it is extremely difficult to compute the paths that the cutting tools have to follow in order to make that shape automatically. The more complicated the shape, the more difficult this problem becomes. Further, it is straightforward to design shapes that are perfectly valid three-dimensional objects but that cannot be cut out at all. Almost all these problems stem from the fact that the tool doing the cutting and the device attaching it to the machine must not strike any part of the object being cut except at the point where the actual cutting is happening.</p> <h3 class="western" style="">2.2. 3D Printing</h3> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Until the late 1970s the alternative primary manufacturing idea - adding material - had received comparatively little attention (except in the electronics industry for chip manufacture, where it was, and still is, ubiquitous, if microscopic). But in 1974 a joke was written and in 1977 a patent was granted that caused that situation to change.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">The joke was by David Jones, writing his column under the pen-name “Daedalus” in the <em>New Scientist</em>.<a name="sdfootnote5anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote5sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">2</a> He made what he imagined was a tongue-in-cheek proposal that one could shine a laser through a vat of liquid plastic monomer and cause it to solidify along the path of the beam. The photons of light might thereby be made to initiate the covalent cross-linking of the liquid monomer to form a solid polymer. He further proposed that, if the wavelengths were adjusted appropriately, the cross-linking could be made to happen only where two beams intersected, resulting in an intense spot of energy at one point, and that - by computer-controlled mirror deflection - that intense point could be made to trace out the volume of a required solid object.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">The patent was granted in 1977 to Wyn Kelly Swainson for essentially the same idea, though he had originally filed the patent well before the appearance of Jones’s piece.<a name="sdfootnote6anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote6sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">3</a> In Swainson’s system the laser caused covalent cross-linking at the surface of the liquid monomer and the object being manufactured rested on a tray that was gradually lowered into the vat.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">This was the start of the 3D printing industry, which engineers sometimes call the rapid prototyping<em> </em>industry. (The latter term has become less current over the last few years – the field is evolving rapidly.) It was called “rapid” because one-offs could be made much more easily and quickly using it than by conventional numerically-controlled machining and it was called “prototyping” because it was too slow and expensive to be used for production (it could not compete with injection moulding for making many copies of a single item, for example).</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">The primary reason that 3D printing technology was (and is) so easy to use was that it completely eliminated the tool-path calculation problems of numerically-controlled cutting machines. Because parts are built up layer by layer, there is always a flat-topped surface with unrestricted access for the laser (or other solidifying or depositing device) to gain access to build upon. This makes it very simple to write a computer programme to control the machine from a computer model of the shape required. There are other advantages (and disadvantages) to 3D printing, but this is the most significant one.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Although it is typically slightly less accurate than cutting, 3D printing is capable of manufacturing more complicated and intricate shapes than any other primary manufacturing technology. Most 3D printing technologies work using plastics but technologies such as selective sintering of metal granules have allowed the printing of metal shapes<a name="sdfootnote7anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote7sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">4</a> and there are systems that can work with ceramics.<a name="sdfootnote8anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote8sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">5</a></p> <h3 class="western" style="">2.3. Home 3D Printing</h3> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">At the time of writing, the lowest-cost conventionally-made and marketed 3D printing machine (the SD-300 made by Solido Ltd in Israel) was being retailed at about €12,000. Machines range in price from that up to around €300,000 and a typical mid-range machine might cost €40,000. In quick succession after Swainson’s patent, all the obviously possible ways of making objects by adding layers under automatic computer control were patented. Those early patents are now expiring but patents for newer 3D printing techniques continue to be issued.<a name="sdfootnote9anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote9sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">6</a></p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">One of the technologies developed was fused-filament fabrication.<a name="sdfootnote10anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote10sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">7</a> This is essentially a computer-controlled glue gun. Molten plastic is extruded from a fine nozzle and laid down on a flat plate by scribbling with the nozzle to form the bottom layer of the object to be made. The plate then drops a small distance, and the next layer is added. Because the plastic is molten when it emerges from the nozzle the second layer welds to the first, and in this way complete three-dimensional solids can be built. This is a comparatively simple technology that requires no hard-to-make parts (such as a laser).</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">In 2004 Adrian Bowyer realised that 3D printing was such a versatile technology that it ought to be possible to design a fused-filament fabrication 3D printing machine that could manufacture a significant fraction of its own parts.<a name="sdfootnote11anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote11sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">8</a> Conventional industry has little use for this idea: why sell a machine to your customers that means that they never need to come back to you to buy another, never need to buy spares, or even that allows them to go into production themselves in direct competition with you? But owning such a machine would have real advantages for people in general: anyone who had one could use it to make things, and could also make another such machine and give that to a friend. This is an interesting example of a failure of the market: such a self-replicating machine is an object that people would value, but that it is in no one’s interest to sell. For these reasons it was decided to make the machine and to give all its designs away free under the GNU General Public Licence on the web.<a name="sdfootnote12anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote12sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">9</a> This was the start of the RepRap project. RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">RepRap has been a significant success, and is now in its second version (Figure 1).</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><img src="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw1.jpg" border="0" height="311" align="BOTTOM" alt="" width="463" /></p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0.21cm; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Figure 1.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span> RepRap Version II, “Mendel” The white part on the blue tray is a component of the machine itself. It was printed from the model depicted on the computer’s screen.</span></span></span></strong></span></p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">From the beginning RepRap was conceived as a machine that would be owned and used by people in the home to make things, as well as by industry. The cost of all the materials needed to make a RepRap is low - about €400 - bringing it well within the budget of individuals in the developed world (as well as small communities in the developing world). RepRap makes items at a slightly lower quality than the commercial machines do, but at about 1 per cent of the cost.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Any development or improvement of RepRap design, software or electronics arises out of its users’ own initiatives. There is no central institution giving directions: users themselves invest time and thought in the evolutionary process of RepRap design. If they inspire other users they can all team up and combine their efforts. Because of the lack of deadlines for developmental goals, progress is very wide ranging, but it is also admittedly slower than in industrial R&D departments. However, personal ambition to realise their own ideas for the project drives the progress of the users’ work. Involving users in product design by providing tool kits has become more important in recent times.<a name="sdfootnote13anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote13sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">10</a></p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">The reactions of industry to RepRap have been twofold: the conventional 3D printing manufacturers have (to the best of the authors’ knowledge) ignored it, but there has been a flurry of garage start-ups (for example Bits from Bytes Ltd in Bristol and MakerBot Industries LLC in New York) making very low cost machines that are based on RepRap technology. There is also another significant open-source 3D printer: the Fab@Home machine, which was inspired by RepRap.<a name="sdfootnote14anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote14sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">11</a> Unlike RepRap, these machines do not copy themselves. They are however all able to make RepRap machines, as are almost all the large-scale commercial 3D printing machines. The asymmetry that this introduces into the population dynamics of 3D printing has not escaped us.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Many companies and organisations have bought these low-cost RepRap derivatives or have built RepRap machines, but by far the greatest majority of owners and users are private individuals. MakerBot runs a popular website (<span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">www.thingiverse.com</a></span>) where anyone may upload and download designs of a great range of items to be manufactured by 3D printers for free.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">As technology has become more miniaturised, the possible functionality of a single product has massively increased. This is, of course, useful and space-saving. On the other hand these versatile devices can, because of their large functional content, be rather complicated to handle. This is not always in the interests of the customer, as seen in Cooper.<a name="sdfootnote15anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote15sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">12</a> Additionally, often not all the functions are used by customers.<a name="sdfootnote16anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote16sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">13</a> Home 3D printing technology provides a way of manufacturing customised objects which have precisely the features an individual user needs.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">All this may be heading towards a world in which people do not buy consumer goods any more but instead download them from the web and print them themselves. They will be able to customise them at will and may avoid some of the environmental and monetary cost currently entrained by the (often global) physical transport of manufactured goods; indeed, work is in train to make RepRap run on home-recycled plastic which would further reduce such costs. In particular, the ability of a 3D printer to, in principle, print a copy of itself, and for both machines to print further copies and so on, suggests that the cost of 3D printing may rapidly fall to the point where it becomes a widely-available technology.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Of course, having many people making few items in the home, instead of few people making many items in factories, is against the idea of economies of scale. But economies of scale are not universal: in the past people took clothes to central laundries to have them washed; now people use their own washing machines. Today electricity is generated in 2 GW power stations tomorrow it may be generated by individual photovoltaics on everyone’s roofs. And industrial printing presses offer far greater economies of scale than the home inkjet printers mentioned in the first paragraph that are – for many types of printing – replacing them.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">What might this 3D printer be useful for? Working just in plastic would limit it to producing items not requiring great strength or heat resistance, whilst the fabrication volume would preclude production of large objects (other than in parts). However, as mentioned above, there is a great deal of active research going on to extend the range of materials that these low-cost systems can work with. There are many potential applications.</p> <ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000; line-height: 15px;"> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><em><strong>Spare Parts</strong></em>. Many appliances require unique and often expensive spare parts. Often these are small, made of plastic and relatively simple design, and would be amenable to domestic fabrication. Examples familiar to the authors include door parts for washing machines,<a name="sdfootnote17anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote17sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">14</a> lids for food processors<a name="sdfootnote18anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote18sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">15</a> and camera lens accessories.<a name="sdfootnote19anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote19sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">16</a> Significantly, provision of third-party spares has led to many IP disputes<em>.</em><a name="sdfootnote20anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote20sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">17</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><em><strong>Craft and Hobby Items</strong></em>. Craft hobbies often require plastic moulds; as with appliance spares, these are often expensive but could be produced with a 3D printer.<a name="sdfootnote21anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote21sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">18</a> A 3D printer could equally produce items directly, such as model figures for war-gaming<a name="sdfootnote22anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote22sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">19</a> or specialist add-on parts for model-making.<a name="sdfootnote23anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote23sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">20</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><em><strong>Educational Uses</strong></em>. School science teaching frequently requires small specialist components for demonstrating or conducting experiments.<a name="sdfootnote24anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote24sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">21</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><em><strong>Unique Requirements</strong></em>. A 3D printer, allied with user-friendly design software, would allow the ready creation of bespoke items. The RepRap website cites the fabrication of a unique bracket to allow an MP3 player to be attached to the coin-holder in a car dashboard.<a name="sdfootnote25anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote25sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">22</a> Individually-tailored body-fitting items such as frames for glasses could be produced, an extension of the use of 3D printing to make tailored medical implants.<a name="sdfootnote26anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote26sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">23</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><em><strong>Fashion Accessories</strong></em>. Existing 3D printing systems have been used to make jewellery.<a name="sdfootnote27anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote27sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">24</a> Personal 3D printers could add a new dimension (literally) to many forms of fashion art, and allow customisation of personal accessories.</p> </li> </ul> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Although discussion so far has assumed home use of low-cost 3D printers, they may appear first in commercial or educational settings such as copy bureaux or schools, just as photocopiers were more common in such venues before combined scanner/printers brought them into the home. These different forms of use are very significant as there are exemptions against infringement of some IP rights for personal or non-commercial use, but not in other circumstances.</p> <h2 class="western" style="">3. Introduction to Intellectual Property Implications</h2> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Might, however, the promise of low-cost 3D printing be constrained by IP law? Surely, it might be thought, home 3D printing of household items might infringe such rights as copyright, design right, trade marks or patents? The second part of this article will examine such questions. To illustrate the legal issues in question it will consider a hypothetical manufacturer, Acme, which produces a range of goods. Acme’s products are protected by various IP rights, such as design right, copyright, patent and trade mark. A consumer, Bridget, owns various Acme products, but finds that additional items, or spares or accessories for the ones she already has, are expensive. Being a 3D printing enthusiast, she creates 3D designs for such items and uses her personal 3D printer to print them out. She also shares her designs over the Internet with Charlie, who downloads them and prints his own ersatz Acme products. What of Acme’s rights, if any, have Bridget and Charlie infringed?</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><a name="_Ref79231239"></a>Such questions have received surprisingly little attention. A comprehensive literature search for legal references to “3D printing”, “rapid prototyping” or related terms found few matches; one referred to the copyright in 3D printing reconstructions of archaeological finds<a name="sdfootnote28anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote28sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">25</a>whilst another briefly noted 3D printing as facilitating the overseas manufacture of patented products.<a name="sdfootnote29anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote29sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">26</a> Even searching within 3D printing engineering journals found only one article considering the prospect of widespread Internet-enabled dissemination of design files,<a name="sdfootnote30anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote30sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">27</a><em> </em>whilst the sole relevant UK case report concerned ownership of copyright in commissioned models; their production by 3D printing was entirely incidental.<a name="sdfootnote31anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote31sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">28</a><em> </em></p> <h3 class="western" style="">3.1. Aim and Legal Assumptions</h3> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Sections 3 through 7 of this paper are a first attempt to fill this gap. Based on the LLM dissertation of one of the authors (SB) they aim, from the perspective of EC and UK IP law,<a name="sdfootnote32anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote32sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">29</a> to identify where widespread low-cost 3D printing may impinge on IP rights or where IP law may constrain its development. Perhaps surprisingly, under UK law it transpires that in the scenario presented Bridget and Charlie may not have infringed Acme’s IP rights. Purely personal use of 3D printing to make copies of household objects and spare parts does not infringe the IP rights that commonly protect such items, such as design protection, patents or trade marks. However, there are areas, such as the reproduction of artistic works, where IP rights such as copyright may be infringed. The advent of low-cost 3D printing may therefore pose challenges to several communities: manufacturers, who may be unable to enforce design protection against private users of 3D printing; artists, who may see a new forum for infringement of works previously difficult to copy, and users of low-cost 3D printing, who may face confusion as to what is legitimate and illegitimate use of the technology.</p> <h3 class="western" style="">3.2. Intellectual Property Rights and 3D Printing</h3> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">There are four main classes of IP rights that may be infringed by using a 3D printer, which may be divided into those which require registration and those which arise automatically (unregistered rights):</p> <ol> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Copyright is an unregistered right that protects mainly artistic and creative works.</p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Design Protection<strong> </strong>exists in both registered and unregistered forms and protects the distinctive shape and appearance of items (in particular those that are mass-produced).</p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Patent is a registered right that protects novel and innovative products such as mechanisms or pharmaceutical compounds.</p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Registered Trade Marks<strong> </strong>serve to inform consumers of the origin (and by association, reputation) of goods.</p> </li> </ol> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">English common law also provides the action of Passing Off against acts that might confuse customers as to the origin of goods.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><a name="_Ref79992440"></a>This paper will briefly introduce each right and focus on the extent to which it may be infringed by use of a 3D printer and the potential legal defences for such infringement. More detailed discussion may be found in relevant educational and practioner texts, to which reference will be made as appropriate.<a name="sdfootnote33anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote33sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">30</a> These rights interact and overlap; in particular the interaction between design protection and copyright has been the subject of much judicial interpretation. It is therefore convenient to consider design protection first.</p> <h2 class="western" style="">4. Design Protection</h2> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Design protection protects the appearance of items, especially commercial products that might not otherwise be protected by patent or copyright law. Design protection may apply to relatively simple products, to components of more complex ones, or to the overall appearance of such “complex products”. In domestic law there are two main forms of design protection: registered design and unregistered design right (UDR). In the wider European context, registered designs may also be registered with the Community Design Register, whilst there is a short-duration unregistered Community design right (UCD). This discussion will concentrate on registered design (for which the domestic and Community provisions are now virtually identical) and UDR.</p> <h3 class="western" style="">4.1. Registered Design</h3> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><a name="_Ref80012845"></a>The Registered Designs Act 1949 (as amended) provides that registration of a product protects its “appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials of the product or its ornamentation”<a name="sdfootnote34anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote34sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">31</a><em> </em>where a “product” is any industrial or handicraft item.<a name="sdfootnote35anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote35sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">32</a> The requirements for the registration of designs (such as novelty and individual character) will not be examined in detail;<a name="sdfootnote36anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote36sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">33</a> however, some of the constraints on what may be registered are relevant to issues arising from 3D printing of spares or parts for repair of a product.</p> <ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000; line-height: 15px;"> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><em><strong>Component Parts</strong></em>. A component part of a complex product may only be protected as a registered design if it is both visible to the user in ordinary use (which excludes maintenance or repair) and is of novel and individual design.<a name="sdfootnote37anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote37sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">34</a> Many spare parts for cars or domestic appliances will be hidden in everyday use whilst many others, even if normally visible, may be of commonplace design, such as a pipe or washer.<a name="sdfootnote38anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote38sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">35</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><em><strong>Designs Dictated by Technical Function</strong></em>. Features of a product dictated solely by technical functionality may not be protected by registered design.<a name="sdfootnote39anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote39sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">36</a> This constraint was considered by the ECJ in <em>Philips v Remington</em><a name="sdfootnote40anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote40sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">37</a> where Colomer AG opined that protection would not be available where the design was the only way of achieving the required function. Cornish contrasts this with the decision of the House of Lords in <em>Amp v Utilux</em><a name="sdfootnote41anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote41sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">38</a> under the previous UK legislation where it was held that whilst an electrical terminal could have been designed in various equally effective ways, all would have been dictated by technical function and so been unregistrable.<a name="sdfootnote42anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote42sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">39</a> (It would now be unregistrable as an invisible component part.)</p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">“<em><strong>Must Fit” Exception.</strong></em> A design or design element is not registrable if it comprises “features of appearance of a product which must necessarily be reproduced in their exact form and dimensions so as to permit the product in which the design is incorporated or to which it is applied to be mechanically connected to, or placed in, around or against, another product so that either product may perform its function”.<a name="sdfootnote43anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote43sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">40</a> There has been little if any judicial consideration of this point, but by analogy with similar provisions for unregistered design right this provision will exclude many spares and accessories from protection if their shape is determined by the need to connect to or fit into or around another product.</p> </li> </ul> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">The effect of these exemptions is that many items attractive for 3D printing will not be protected as registered designs. Many spare parts are likely to be components or fall under the “technical function” or “must fit” exemptions. The latter also applies to the shape of accessories and customisation items such as covers for mobile phones (but not, as noted below, to copyright artwork decorating them). Furthermore, even if a spare part escapes these exemptions and is protected as a registered design, such protection is not infringed by its use for “the repair of a complex product so as to restore its original appearance”.<a name="sdfootnote44anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote44sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">41</a> This would cover the 3D printing of a part such as a car wing panel that was normally visible and not wholly constrained in design by its function or fit, but which had to be replicated in order to maintain the vehicle’s original appearance.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><a name="_Ref80862995"></a>Even where a registered design is copied via a 3D printer this would not be an infringement if it were done “privately and for purposes which are not commercial”.<a name="sdfootnote45anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote45sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">42</a> Both criteria must be met; it is insufficient that copying is not done for profit. Purely personal use of a 3D printer to make items will thus not infringe a registered design, so long as the purpose for which the item was made was genuinely non-commercial. In the introductory scenario therefore, even if Acme’s product is protected as a registered design, neither Bridget nor Charlie infringe that design by making a copy for personal use (although this may not be so if, say, Bridget makes an item for use in paid work from home). However, use in other settings, such as a repair shop, will have to avoid registered designs if it is not to infringe them, unless the “complex product repair” exemption applies. For non-private educational purposes, there is a “fair dealing” exemption,<a name="sdfootnote46anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote46sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">43</a> but this only applies where the use does not prejudice normal exploitation of the design,<a name="sdfootnote47anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote47sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">44</a> e.g. by substituting for purchase of the item itself. So if Charlie works in a school and uses Acme test-tube stands, if these are registered designs he could not legitimately 3D-print copies to avoid buying new ones from Acme.</p> <h3 class="western" style="">4.2. Unregistered Design Right</h3> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><a name="_Ref80259461"></a>UK UDR was introduced by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to help resolve anomalies in industrial design protection regarding the supply of third-party spare parts (especially for cars) that had culminated in the House of Lords decision in <em>Leyland v Armstrong</em>.<a name="sdfootnote48anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote48sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">45</a> UDR provides protection akin to registered design, but rather than requiring registration it arises automatically, as with copyright. Like copyright it is therefore only effective against actual copying.<a name="sdfootnote49anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote49sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">46</a> As an unregistered right its subsistence will be a question of law in each case.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><a name="_Ref129607675"></a>UDR subsists in the shape and configuration of an item, but not its surface decoration or method or principle of construction.<a name="sdfootnote50anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote50sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">47</a> It also excludes features that are required for it to be “connected to, or placed in, around or against, another article so that either article may perform its function” or which “are dependent upon the appearance of another article of which the article is intended by the designer to form an integral part.”<a name="sdfootnote51anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote51sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">48</a><em> </em>The “must fit” exception is similar to that for registered design, whilst the “must match” exception is analogous to the “repair of complex products” provision.</p> <ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000; line-height: 15px;"> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><em><strong>Originality</strong></em>. To qualify for UDR, a design must be original, defined as not being “commonplace in the design field in question at the time of its creation”<em>.</em><a name="sdfootnote52anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote52sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">49</a><em> </em>In <em>Farmers Build v Carrier</em><a name="sdfootnote53anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote53sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">50</a> Mummery LJ noted:</p> </li> </ul> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-right: 1.5cm; margin-bottom: 0.42cm; margin-left: 1.5cm; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">The designs are “original” in the sense that they are the independent work of the designer of the TARGET machines: they have not been simply copied by him from the GASCOIGNE or SUDSTALL machine….Time, labour and skill, sufficient to attract copyright protection, were expended by Mr Hagan in originating the designs of the individual parts. Similarly, he originated the assembly or combination of those parts in the TARGET machine as a whole.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0.21cm; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><a name="_Ref80173500"></a>Laddie J’s remarks illustrate that UDR may subsist in individual parts of a design, the design as a whole, or both. Consequently, an allegedly infringing design may be analysed by being broken down into component parts, some of which may be held to infringe UDR whilst others do not. The meaning of “design field in question” was considered in <em>Lambretta v Teddy Smith</em><a name="sdfootnote54anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote54sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">51</a> where Jacob LJ held it to be the range of designs with which the designer of the item in question would be familiar.</p> <ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000; line-height: 15px;"> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;"><em><strong>Method or Principle of Construction</strong></em>. In <em>Rolawn v Turfmech</em><a name="sdfootnote55anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote55sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">52</a> Mann J summarised prior case law as indicating that this provision prevented UDR subsisting in what he described as abstract, generalised design concepts. Under Mann J’s interpretation aspects of design dictated solely by manufacturing technique or necessitated by sound engineering design will be likely to fall within it. As noted by the Court of Appeal in <em>Landa & Hawa International v Azure</em><a name="sdfootnote56anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote56sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">53</a> this provision seeks to prevent a designer gaining a monopoly over a particular way of making a type of product.</p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">“<em><strong>Must Fit” Exception</strong></em>. The “must fit” exception for UDR has been the subject of considerable judicial consideration. In<em>Parker v Tidball</em>,<a name="sdfootnote57anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote57sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">54</a> the disputed designs were for mobile phone cases, which had both to fit around the phones they were designed for and to allow access to keyboards and displays. Robert Englehart QC adopted the approach of breaking each design down into its components in order to assess whether each element’s design was commonplace and, if not, if it was constrained by the need to fit the phone or if alternatives would have been possible. In <em>Dyson v Qualtex</em><a name="sdfootnote58anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote58sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">55</a> the exception was held to apply to those elements of spare parts that were shaped so as to allow them to conform with the product they were to be fitted to. The “must fit” exception has even been extended to designs that conform to parts of the human body, such as contact lenses in <em>Ocular Sciences</em><a name="sdfootnote59anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote59sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">56</a> – although in <em>Amoena v Trulife</em><a name="sdfootnote60anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote60sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">57</a> it was held that breast implants were not caught by this exemption, as they were too flexible to be considered “constrained” in their design.</p> </li> <li> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">“<em><strong>Must Match” Exception</strong></em>. The “must match” exception is analogous to the “complex repair” provision for registered design. The example of a car wing panel illustrates it well, and has been cited as epitomising this provision, e.g. by Jacob LJ in <em>Dyson v Qualtex</em>. <em>Dyson </em>concerned “pattern parts”, spares which replicated the appearance as well as function of the original manufacturer’s parts, in that case for vacuum cleaners. Jacob LJ distinguished between spares for cars, where matching overall appearance was paramount, and those for more mundane items – such as vacuum cleaners – where it was less so. Without clear Parliamentary intent to exclude spares from UDR altogether, he held that the “must match” exception applied only in the former instance.<a name="sdfootnote61anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote61sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">58</a></p> </li> </ul> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">How, then, does UDR affect the use of 3D printers to make copies of items in which it might subsist? The operative phrase is “might subsist”, as being an unregistered right it will be for the owner of the original item’s design to assert UDR. The factors listed above will determine whether UDR subsists – potentially not if the item is a commonplace design or has a shape and configuration determined by the item it “must fit” onto or around.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">For 3D printing of spares, the “must fit”, “principle of construction” and “original design” requirements mean that UDR is unlikely to subsist in items that are of mundane design (c.f. the example of pipes or washers noted earlier) or where shape is dictated by the need to fit against another element of a product or is necessary for proper operation. However, as emphasised in <em>Dyson</em>, UDR is by no means excluded for spares, and in particular closely-matching “pattern spares” may fall outside the “must match” exception if they are destined for products where appearance is not critical.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">The “must fit” exception would also apply to items such as customised covers for mobile phones although, as was noted with in the discussion of registered designs, this would not cover the use of copyright artwork as surface decoration. But of the other forms of items attractive for copying with a 3D printer many, such as craft and hobby items, would be protected by UDR and so reproducing them may infringe it. Whether they would depends on the statutory exemptions.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">For UDR there is no positive provision in CDPA 1988 corresponding to that in RDA 1949 allowing private, non-commercial reproduction of a registered design. Instead, s 226(1) provides that:</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0.21cm; margin-right: 0.9cm; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1cm; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">(1) The owner of design right in a design has the exclusive right to reproduce the design for commercial purposes—</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0.21cm; margin-right: 0.9cm; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1cm; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">(a) by making articles to that design, or</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0.21cm; margin-right: 0.9cm; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 1cm; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">(b) by making a design document recording the design for the purpose of enabling such articles to be made.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">On its construction s 226(1) implies that the exclusive right does not apply to non-commercial use. This interpretation is supported by<em>Copinger and Skone James</em>, which notes<em> </em>“it seems clear enough that…a person who (for example) makes articles to a design intending to use them domestically does not thereby infringe design right”<em>.</em><a name="sdfootnote62anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote62sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">59</a> In the Acme scenario, neither Bridget nor Charlie infringes any UDR subsisting in Acme’s products by 3D printing copies for personal use.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">The authors of <em>Copinger</em> dismiss the impact of this provision, commenting that “as a person is unlikely to make many articles with a view to non-commercial purposes, it should in practice create few problems.” This may be true even with personal 3D printers, but what might change is that many more people will be in the position to make such articles. Furthermore, and in contrast with the situation for registered designs, there is no requirement that non-commercial use also be private. Indeed, by confining infringement to commercial use, defined as making an article or design document with a view to selling or hiring it in the course of business,<a name="sdfootnote63anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote63sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">60</a> the legislation appears to make all non-commercial uses non-infringing. This would include use within educational establishments, or bureau services where a 3D printer is made available for members of the public to use. CPDA 1988 provides that authorising infringement (which, by analogy with copyright, includes permitting infringing activities) is itself primary infringement of design right.<a name="sdfootnote64anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote64sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">61</a> But this only extends as far as acts that are themselves infringing, which non-commercial use is not. This is a fine point, and it may be argued that if a charge is made for such a service (e.g. at a commercial copy bureau) then the article is actually being made for the purpose of sale; equally, a private school or commercial training centre may well be “commercial” in this sense. If no charge is made though, for instance in a publically-funded school or training centre, then there is seemingly neither infringement of design right or authorisation of such. Taking the example used earlier, if Acme’s test tube stands were protected only by UDR, Charlie could legitimately copy them for use at his school, but not for sale to others.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Genuine commercial use will still be caught by s 226(1). To avoid infringement, business users will have to confine 3D printing to items not protected by UDR (such as spares within the constraints noted above), or will have to licence the right to produce them. This may well be attractive if it allows dealers to avoid holding large stocks of diverse parts, instead 3D printing them on demand from manufacturer’s authorised patterns. As will be discussed below, sale of self-3D printed unofficial spares, even where not infringing UDR, may fall foul of trade mark and passing off law.</p> <h3 class="western" style="">4.3. 3D Printers and Design Protection</h3> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">In summary, the exemptions for personal and private reproduction of registered designs and the exclusion of non-commercial use from UDR protection mean that the domestic use of a personal 3D printer to reproduce an item will infringe neither registered nor unregistered design protection. Perhaps more surprisingly the exclusive right provided by UDR appears not to cover such public but non-commercial users as schools; subject to interpretation, it may not prevent use in a commercial reproduction bureau. Even for commercial use, many items that are attractive for 3D printing, such as spare parts, may be unregistrable as registered designs and excluded from protection by UDR.</p> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Two further issues arise regarding design protection, however: rights in surface decoration of an item to be reproduced by a 3D printer and rights in the design file used by a 3D printer for reproducing an item. Both of these concern copyright, and so will be covered in the next section.</p> <h2 class="western" style="">5. Copyright</h2> <p class="western" style="line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; direction: ltr; color: #000000;">Copyright is an unregistered right that arises automatically on creation to protect creative works. Different jurisdictions vary as to the works for which copyright can subsist, but they generally follow Art 2(1) of the Berne Convention,<a name="sdfootnote65anc" href="http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/vol7-1/bradshaw.asp#sdfootnote65sym" class="sdfootnoteanc" style="color: #316192; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">62</a> which provides that copyright shall be available for “literary and artistic works”, where this includes musical and dramatic works and 2D and 3D artistic works. In the UK, CDPA 1988 s 1(a) recognises four classes of work in which copyright can subsist: literary, dramatic, mu <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/the-intellectual-property-implications-of-low">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-78995400878223362452010-04-24T23:01:00.001-04:002010-04-24T23:01:41.188-04:00Get 3DVIA.com on your iPhone<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; font-size: small;"> A Great way to experience 3DVIA.com no matter where you are.</span></strong></span></p> <p><object height="350" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/8euGyB7jv20&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" /></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /></param><embed allowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/8euGyB7jv20&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="350" width="400"></embed></object></p> <p><strong><span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Lucida Sans Unicode, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; color: #898989; line-height: 18px; font-size: small;">Easily combine your photos with free 3D models from the vast 3D community of 3DVIA.com: over 20,000 models from a growing community of over 150,000 contributors!!</span></strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.3dvia.com/products/3dvia-mobile/">http://www.3dvia.com/products/3dvia-mobile/</a></p> <p><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/app/3dvia-mobile/id324682238?mt=8">http://itunes.apple.com/app/3dvia-mobile/id324682238?mt=8</a></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/get-3dviacom-on-your-iphone">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-1565502594772285822010-04-24T22:46:00.001-04:002010-04-24T22:46:15.181-04:00iPhone:My Measures is a powerful application for storing and sharing object dimensions.<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Lucida Sans Unicode, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: #898989; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #ff6600; font-size: medium;">A must have tool for all real estate agents, engineers, carpenters, architects, auction sellers, construction workers... </span><br /></span></p> <p><object height="350" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/s1Bd4wfhpmg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" /></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /></param><embed allowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/s1Bd4wfhpmg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="350" width="400"></embed></object></p> <p><span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Lucida Sans Unicode, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; font-size: small; color: #0000ff;">All you have to do is take a photo of an object you wish to store dimensions of. Then you add dimensions: arrows, angels and text. Now your measures are stored and you can see and share them anytime anywhere.</span></p> <p><a href="http://www.sis.si/iphone/my-measures/2">http://www.sis.si/iphone/my-measures/2</a></p> <p><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-measures-dimensions/id325962257?mt=8#">http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-measures-dimensions/id325962257?mt=8#</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Measures-for-iPhone/118334491514847?v=wall#!/pages/My-Measures-for-iPhone/118334491514847?ref=ts">http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Measures-for-iPhone/118334491514847?v=wall#!/pages/My-Measures-for-iPhone/118334491514847?ref=ts</a></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/iphonemy-measures-is-a-powerful-application-f">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1469511555354795816.post-24456523344581092522010-04-24T18:27:00.001-04:002010-04-24T18:27:46.654-04:00Stratasys Delivers First Shipment of HP-Branded 3D Printers<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; color: #ff9900;"><strong><em><strong>Event marks milestone in agreement to develop 3D printers for HP</strong></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><strong><em><strong><br /></strong></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">MINNEAPOLIS, Apr 19, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Additive fabrication system maker, Stratasys, Inc., (NASDAQ: SSYS), today announced it has delivered its first shipments of HP-branded 3D printers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Stratasys and HP co-developed the exclusive 3D printer systems, which are being manufactured by<a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stratasys.com%2Fdefault.aspx%3Futm_source%3DHPAPRIL10%26utm_medium%3DPR%26utm_campaign%3DHPAPRIL10PR&esheet=6254787&lan=en_US&anchor=Stratasys&index=1&md5=2fa379dd49afa719d3d23b127bdb9fda" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Stratasys</a> as part of a global manufacturing agreement with HP (NYSE: HPQ), as announced in January.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">HP launched its Designjet 3D products in Europe today, making it the only major manufacturer of 2D (<em>or paper)</em> printers in the 3D printer market. The products will be available this May in five European markets: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">"The agreement to develop and manufacture a product to HP's specification is a milestone for us," says Stratasys CEO Scott Crump. "Today, we're taking a big step in realizing the agreement's potential by demonstrating we can deliver."</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">"There are millions of 3D designers using 2D printers who are ready to bring their designs to life in 3D," says Santiago Morera, HP's vice president and general manager of its Large Format Printing Business. "Stratasys FDM technology is the ideal platform for HP to enter the 3D MCAD printing market and begin to capitalize on this untapped opportunity."</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #ff9900;"><strong>Technology & Use</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Product designers, engineers, and architects who design with CAD (computer aided design) use 3D printers as peripheral devices to "print" or produce a tangible 3D model from plastic or other material to verify the form, fit, and function of designs prior to committing them to production or construction. Designers often seek 3D printers that model with production-grade thermoplastic when they want to best-predict performance of their plastic end-product.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Stratasys manufactures 3D printers under the <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dimensionprinting.com%2Fdefault.aspx%3Futm_source%3DHPAPRIL10%26utm_medium%3DPR%26utm_campaign%3DHPAPRIL10PR&esheet=6254787&lan=en_US&anchor=Dimension&index=2&md5=4300437b0898b544160d72bf4c4f41fd" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Dimension</a>brand, and it makes 3D production systems under the <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fortus.com%2Fdefault.aspx%3Futm_source%3DHPAPRIL10%26utm_medium%3DPR%26utm_campaign%3DHPAPRIL10PR&esheet=6254787&lan=en_US&anchor=Fortus&index=3&md5=d04694fea5c51bdede3fcb68898ab1ea" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Fortus</a> brand. Both product lines, as well as the HP-branded 3D printers employ <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stratasys.com%2FTechnology.aspx%3Futm_source%3DHPAPRIL10%26utm_medium%3DPR%26utm_campaign%3DHPAPRIL10PR&esheet=6254787&lan=en_US&anchor=Fused+Deposition+Modeling+%28FDM%29+technology&index=4&md5=5d9dd122f791f68d031280dcebf112a0" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology</a>, which creates three-dimensional plastic models directly from a CAD file. The patented process creates parts by extruding semi-molten plastic in thin layers to "grow" the part, layer by layer. The process of producing a part layer-by-layer is known generically as "additive fabrication" or "additive manufacturing."</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #ff9900;"><strong>Pioneer & Leader</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">The term "3D printer" was coined by Stratasys when it introduced its first compact system co-developed with IBM in the mid 1990s. <em>3D printer</em> is now widely used to describe a segment of additive fabrication machines that generally connotes a compact, low-price unit that is quick and easy to operate. Stratasys was an early pioneer of the additive fabrication industry as well as its 3D printer segment. The company has a seven-year track record as the industry's unit sales leader, and it has an industry market share of 43 percent, as well as a market share of more than 50 percent for the 3D printer segment. The company's ongoing leadership demonstrates customers' long-term satisfaction with its products and FDM technology.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">The technology to produce 3D models directly from a digital design has been commercial for more than 20 years, but recent advances in 3D printers have dramatically reduced their cost and improved ease-of-use and reliability. Stratasys introduced its Dimension 3D printer line in 2002, with the first printer priced under $30,000. Early last year, Dimension broke the $15,000 (USD) barrier with its office-friendly <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fuprint.dimensionprinting.com%2Fdefault.aspx%3Futm_source%3DHPAPRIL10%26utm_medium%3DPR%26utm_campaign%3DHPAPRIL10PR&esheet=6254787&lan=en_US&anchor=uPrint&index=5&md5=4b7b1a9b44212fb88f015aa638ea68fd" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">uPrint</a>, which fits on a desktop.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">HP's Graphic Solutions Business - part of the company's $24 billion Imaging and Printing Group - executed the distribution agreement with Stratasys. HP is a leading provider of Designjet and Scitex large-format printing solutions, Indigo digital solutions for commercial and industrial printing, inkjet high-speed production solutions and specialty printing systems.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>Stratasys, Inc</strong></span>., Minneapolis, manufactures additive fabrication machines for prototyping and manufacturing plastic parts under the brands Fortus 3D Production Systems and Dimension 3D Printers. The company operates RedEye On Demand, an online service for part prototyping and production. Stratasys also manufactures 3D printers for HP, sold under the brand Designjet 3D. According to Wohlers Report 2009, Stratasys supplied 43 percent of all additive fabrication systems installed worldwide in 2008, making it the unit market leader for the seventh consecutive year. Stratasys patented and owns the process known as FDM. The process creates functional prototypes and manufactured goods directly from any 3D CAD program, using high-performance industrial thermoplastics. The company holds more than 280 granted or pending additive fabrication patents globally. Stratasys products are used in the aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, business & industrial equipment, education, architecture, and consumer-product industries. Online at:<a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stratasys.com%2Fdefault.aspx%3Futm_source%3DHPAPRIL10%26utm_medium%3DPR%26utm_campaign%3DHPAPRIL10PR&esheet=6254787&lan=en_US&anchor=www.Stratasys.com&index=6&md5=42dd2f72b99a6675ccf5c37aa3aaaf00" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">www.Stratasys.com</a></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>Dimension</strong></span>, a brand of 3D printers by Stratasys, offers computer-aided-design (CAD) users a low-cost, networked alternative for building functional 3D models from the desktop. The printers build models layer-by-layer using ABS plastic, one of the most widely used thermoplastics in today's injection-molded products. Dimension 3D printers allow users to evaluate design concepts and test models for form, fit, and function. Online at: <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dimensionprinting.com%2Fdefault.aspx%3Futm_source%3DHPAPRIL10%26utm_medium%3DPR%26utm_campaign%3DHPAPRIL10PR&esheet=6254787&lan=en_US&anchor=www.DimensionPrinting.com&index=7&md5=8a19c40892ef1c5d8ace76655cbb9383" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">www.DimensionPrinting.com</a></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>Fortus </strong></span>is a brand of Stratasys, Inc., formerly known as the FDM Group. Fortus offers a line of 3D production systems used for direct digital manufacturing and precision rapid prototyping. Fortus systems create manufactured goods or prototypes from industrial thermoplastics, including ABS, polycarbonate, PPSF, blends, and ULTEM* 9085. Online at: <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fortus.com%2Fdefault.aspx%3Futm_source%3DHPAPRIL10%26utm_medium%3DPR%26utm_campaign%3DHPAPRIL10PR&esheet=6254787&lan=en_US&anchor=www.Fortus.com&index=8&md5=9c51bed4970c010c110cfebb737d047c" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">www.Fortus.com</a></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;">Fortus is a trademark, and Dimension, Stratasys, uPrint, and FDM are registered trademarks of Stratasys, Inc. Designjet 3D and HP are trademarks of Hewlett-Packard.</span></p> <p>SOURCE: Stratasys, Inc.</p> <p><img src="http://mms.businesswire.com/bwapps/mediaserver/ViewMedia?mgid=224525&vid=4" alt="3D printer maker, Stratasys, says it has begun shipping HP-branded machines to Hewlett-Packard. (Photo: Stratasys)" /></p> <p> </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://solidwild.posterous.com/stratasys-delivers-first-shipment-of-hp-brand">SolidWild's posterous</a> </p> </div>SolidWildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10367981458658786915noreply@blogger.com0