Additive Manufacturing: from enthusiasm to adoption to production… but where does intellectual property fit in?

AdditiveManufacturing:fromenthusiasmtoadoptionto
production…butwheredoesintellectualpropertyfitin?

StéphanieLamontagne
ROBIC,LLP
JuniorEngineer,TechnicalAdvisor(Patents)

AdditiveManufacturing(AM)technologies,alsoknownas”3Dprinting”,havebeenaround
forover30years.However,itisonlyinthelastfiveyearsthatastronginteresthasbeen
observedinthemarket,especiallywiththeappearanceofanabundanceofmachines,
materials(fromrubbertosugartotitaniumandevenconcrete!),serviceprovidersand
increasinglyaccessibleapplications.Withusesasdiverseasautomobiles,cakes,airless
tiresandevenribcageprostheses,theemergingAMtechnologiescancertainlyfireupthe
imagination!
ThisismostlyduetothefactthatmanypioneerpatentsrelatedtoAMmachineshave
recentlyexpired,thepatentprotectionnormallylasting20years.Technologicaladvances
inthisfield,andincreasinglywideruseofthesetechnologies,haveresultedinboththe
U.S.andEuropeanpatentoffices(USPTOandEPO)creatingnewclassificationsfor
patentapplicationsrelatedto,forinstance,differenttypesofAMprocesses,machinesand
materialsused.IncreasinglycomplexAMapplicationsareappearingmonthlyandare
intendedformassproduction(notjustforrapidprototyping,aswasoriginallythecase).
ButnowthegrowingpopularityofthesetechnologiesisraisingquestionsaboutAM’s
impactonintellectualproperty.Let’sbeginwithabriefoverviewofAM,someindustrial
applicationsofthetechnologyandtheirimplicationsforintellectualproperty,onelayerat
atime!

DefinitionofAdditiveManufacturing
Additivemanufacturingconsistsoffabricatingpartsorassemblieslayerbylayer,or
throughtheselectivedepositionofmaterial,withvariousmaterialssuchasmetals,
plastics,ceramics,composites,paperandevenbiologicalmaterialusingadigitalfile.
AccordingtostandardF2792-12aoftheASTM(AmericanSocietyforTestingand
Materials),AMprocessescanbeclassifiedintosevencategories.Themostcommonly
usedprocessesforthemanufactureofproductionparts(ortooling)includepowderbed
fusion(metalorpolymer),materialextrusionandbinderjetting.Thevaluechain,orthe
seriesofstepsrequiredtocreateapartorassemblyviaAM,initiallyconsistsofgenerating
adigitalmodelofthepartusingComputer-AidedDesign(CAD),thenconvertingtheCAD
fileintoaformatcompatiblewithanAMmachineandthentransferringthefiletotheAM

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machine.TheAMmachineisfirstpreparedformanufacturingbydefiningparameterssuch
aslayerthicknessandscanningspeedofthematerialdeposithead;thenthepartcanbe
fabricated.Finally,thepartisremovedfromthemachineandapost-processingstepis
carriedoutbasedontheprocessused.

Intellectualproperty
Thestepsinthevaluechainthatcarrycertainrisksrelatingtointellectualpropertyare
thoseinvolvingthegenerationandtransferofdigitalfiles;inotherwords,theCADfile
and/orthefilecontaininginstructionsfortheAMmachine.Why?Becausealltheresearch
anddevelopmentinvestmentsandeffortsareintegratedintoadigitalfilethatislikelyto
bedistributedrapidlyaroundtheworld.Decentralizationofmanufacturingisamajor
benefitofAM,butitdoescarrycertainrisks.
ThedigitalfileisusuallyobtainedfromaCADsoftwareprogram,butcouldalsobe
generatedbydigitizationusinga3Dscanner.A3Dscannerallowsonetocollectdataon
apartaspointcloudsthatisturnedintoafilethatiscompatiblewithanAMmachine.
CreatingafilethatiscompatiblewithanAMmachineusingascannercanbedonevery
quicklyandallowsonetocopyapart.
Theuseofanadditionalmethodinthevaluechain,calledtopologicaloptimization,may
contributetoreducetheweightofpartsproducedbyAM.Ifusedintheprocessafterthe
stepofgeneratingadigitalfile(whichisusedastheinput),topologicaloptimizationhelps
determinetheoptimaldistributionofmaterialwithinadesignspacethatissubjecttogiven
constraints.Sinceadditivemanufacturingconsistsoffabricationbyaddingmaterial,
designguidelinesspecifictothisfabricationprinciple,andnottoremoval(subtractive
manufacturing)ordeformationofmaterial,asisthecasewithtraditionalmanufacturing
methods,mustbeapplied.Designexpertiseforadditivemanufacturing,orDfAM,is
thereforealsoincludedinthedigitalfiletransferredtotheAMmachine.Thisdigitalfilehas
significantfinancialvalue,sinceitincludesalltheinformationaboutthegeometryofthe
part,aswellasitsmanufacturingparameters.Thisvalueissuchthatsomecompaniesdo
notmarkettheobjectproducedbyAM,butrathertheCADfileusedtomakeit.
Butcouldthisdigitalfilebeprotectedbyapatentorbyindustrialdesign?Apatentisa
righttopreventathirdpartyfrommanufacturing,usingorsellinganinvention,whichmust
beeitheraproduct,acompositionofmaterials,amachineoraprocess.Anindustrial
design,ontheotherhand,enablestheprotectionofthevisualcharacteristicsofafinished
product.Therefore,thedigitalfilecannotyetbeprotectedassuchbythesetypesoflaws.
Onlycopyrightprotectioncanbeapplied.However,itmaybedifficultinthefuturefor
copyrightholderstomonitorthetransferoffilesthatmayinfringeontheirrights,andtodo
soworldwide.Inthesameway,theownerofapatentonaproductormachinenotonly
needstomonitorthemarketforinfringingproducts,manufacturedeithertraditionallyor
withAM,butalsofordigitalfiles:oncethesearetransferredtoanAMmachine,theycan
produceaphysicalrepresentationoftheproductormachine.
Inaddition,theholderofatrademark,whichcouldberelatedtothevisualaspectofa
product,suchastheshapeofaCoca-Cola™bottleoreventhetouchpadofaniPhone™,
needstobeonthelookoutforanyreproductionsofitsbrandnamethatmayhavebeen

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facilitatedthroughtheuseofAM.Theactionofmakingapieceofchocolateintheshape
ofseveraltrianglesandaffixingtoitatrademarksuchasToblerone™,forexample,would
constituteaviolationoftheholder’srights.
Ondemandmanufacturingandliability
InadditiontoconsideringintellectualpropertyrightswithintheframeworkofAMuse,the
aspectofliabilitymustbetakenintoaccount.Let’staketheexampleoftheproductionof
spareparts.Thisisanapplicationthatinvolvesagreatdealofaddedvaluecomparedto
traditionalmanufacturingprocesses,sincenotooling(e.g.moulds,dies)wouldberequired
forAM,soashortproductionruncouldbeprofitable.Despitethismarketbenefitofcustom
manufacturing,therearesomeliabilityrisks.It’seasytoseethatadigitalfileusedfor
manufacturingcouldendupinthehandsofvariouspeople,sincetransferofthefileis
quickandeasy.Eveniftheyarenotthecreatorsofthefile,theseindividualscould
manufacture,useandmarkettheresultingpart.Sowhowouldthenbeliableifanaccident
shouldresultfromtheuseofapart(e.g.asparepart)thathadbeenmanufacturedbythis
thirdparty?Woulditbethepersonwhodesignedandmodelledthepart,thepersonwho
scannedtheparttoreproduceit,thepersonwhomarketedthedigitalfileoreventhe
personwhomadeit?Therearenowsomemeansoftracingthemanufacturerand
differentiatingbetweenanoriginalandacopythathaveappearedonthemarket.For
example,addingnanomaterialsoramaterialwithaspecificcompositiontoapartduring
itsmanufacturearewaystohelplimitliabilityissuesintheeventoffailureoraccident.

Conclusion
Inconclusion,AMtechnologiesareconstantlyevolving,forexampleintheextrusionof
metallicmaterials,molecularscaleAMandcontinuousphotopolymerizationprocess.
Theseadvancesarehelpingtopushthelimitsintermsofthecostandspeedof
manufacturing.TheAMmachinesavailableonthemarketareincreasinglyefficientand
affordable.However,adoptionofthesetechnologiesisagradualprocess,andindustries
willneedtodeveloptheircompetencyindesignforAM,aswellastopologicaloptimization,
developmentofcostmodels,andtailoringtheirsupplychainsforAM.Itcanthereforebe
expectedthatthelegalframeworkwillalsograduallyevolve,intandemwiththe
developmentofAM,itsapplicationsandtheecosystemsrelatedtothesetechnologies.
Challengeswill,however,remainwithinthelegalframework,relatedtocompliancewitha
holder’sintellectualpropertyrights,giventherapiddistributionofdigitalfilesusedinAM.
Inventorscanprotecttheirinnovations,bymeansofindustrialdesignorpatents,
independentlyoftheprocessusedtomakethem.Thecounterfeitingprincipleapplies
regardlessofwhetherproductsaremadeusingAMortraditionalmanufacturing
processes.Nevertheless,apatentapplicationshouldcoveranyfuturefacetsofan
invention,includingthepossibilityofapartbeingproducedbyAM.