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3D Printing: Are you 3DP Ready?

25 April 2017

3D printing has already been around for decades and has disrupted certain industries, such as hearing aids. One likely impact is an increase in IP infringement, with Gartner predicting that this could reach $100 billion a year by 2018.

Now that a number of key patents have expired, 3D printers are becoming cheaper and offer many advantages over traditional manufacturing techniques, for example in making pills. An effective IP strategy to guard against a counterfeit object being 3D printed should start with considering multiple IP rights to protect a product.

However, when it comes to enforcement and policing there are additional challenges, including what actually constitutes infringing use. Now is the time to review your strategy and learn lessons from others’ experiences. In this article, first published in Managing Intellectual Property, Stella Wong considers how to develop a 3DP IP strategy, with a particular focus on the medical industry