Determination Of 3D Printing Patent Infringement

As a new type of manufacturing technology,3D printing has many advantages such as short production cycle,low raw material consumption,high product accuracy,and personalized production,which are different from traditional manufacturing industries.Currently,3D printing technology is still in its infancy,and it can be expected that with the maturity of 3D printing technology and the decline in the price of 3D printers,the 3D printing era will come,and the commercial application of 3D printing technology will turn to home-based personal applications.The emerging technology of 3D printing will bring about corresponding legal issues in the process of bringing convenience to human life,including the impact on the patent system.For patentees,the market share of their patented products will fall due to personal 3D printed patented products,causing them to suffer significant losses.The conflict between the popularization of 3D printing technology and China's existing patent system are mainly reflected in whether individuals' printing and use of patented products for non-production and management purposes constitute infringement,and how patent owners should control the core of implementing 3D printing,especially the supply of CAD documents and the control of their dissemination.The basic theory was elaborated,and China's existing patent legal system was compared with the draft of the comparative patent law.With reference to academic theoretical explanations,a comprehensive study was made on two core issues.First of all,under the 3D printing environment,the patent law system should be based on the basic principles and objectives of the patent law and the need to promote the development of the 3D industry,aiming at the print and use behaviors of the patented product implemented by individuals not for “production and management purposes”.Phase-by-phase protection from weak to strong,in the 3D printing era,eventually canceled the subjective criteria for production and management purposes.Secondly,since the CAD document contains all the technical information of the patented product,the manufacture of the patented product can be realized by printing the CAD document.This will seriously damage the market interest enjoyed by the patentee according to its patents.Therefore,the CAD document should be being recognized as "articles specifically used for the implementation of patents",the act of providing and disseminating CAD documents shall be deemed to constitute contributory infringement.In the background of 3D printing,the downloading of CAD documents is performed in a relatively hidden space on the Internet.The printing of patented products will occur in a relatively closed family environment.It is almost impossible for the patentee to prove the direct patent infringement.The cost to be paid will be higher than the proof in the traditional manufacturing mode.Therefore,the indirect infringement of patents in 3D printing should not be based on direct infringement.The introduction and improvement of the “notice and take down” rule in the patent field will help resolve the determination of indirect patent infringement in 3D printing,prevent network service providers from overburdening inspection obligations,and provide patent holders with high efficiency and convenience.The means to safeguard its patent rights and interests to achieve the balance of interests of network service providers,patent owners,users.