3D Printing and IP Rights: The Elephant in the Room

People who write about 3D printing often say that it raises unique intellectual property issues, but then stop there. But what is different about 3D printing from an IP perspective? IP legal principles apply to 3D printing no differently than they apply to any other technology. Yet there is an elephant in the 3D printed room because the difference is really an order of magnitude: 3D printing may involve all types of IP rights and most products, so the scale and scope of potential infringement and the pool of potential infringers is much larger. In this article, Finnegan attorney John F. Hornick discusses IP considerations in the 3D printing industry.