Just As Key 3D Printing Patents Get Closer To Expiring, Intellectual Ventures Patents 3D Printing DRM
from the good-luck-with-that dept
3D printing is on the verge of really going mainstream, in part because of improvements in the technology, but in large part because the key patents that have limited that advancement are getting close to expiring. Of course, as it takes off, though, expect a ton of people to try to "tax" the success with new patents of their own. And, of course, it comes as little surprise that Intellectual Ventures will be a player in that space. Though its first attempt might backfire... Technology Review has a story about Intellectual Ventures getting a new patent on DRM for 3D printing. You can see the patent (8,286,236) yourself. It's a pretty broad patent that seems to cover a broad array of "authorization" measures for manufacturing based on a data file.We've talked in the past about how patents too often get granted for taking something known or common and basically saying "on the internet" on it. Perhaps the next wave of patents will be the same kinda thing, but "... with 3D printing." Of course, patenting DRM might actually have a good, if unintended, result: perhaps it will scare people and companies away from making the mistake of trying to DRM up 3D printing files, and leave the system much more open. Though, given the historical comparisons, that seems unlikely...
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Filed Under: 3d printing, drm, patents
Companies: intellectual ventures
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Just wait...
I just printed some cool new jewelry... but i can't wear it to the party because there I don't get cell reception at that hotel.
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Re: Just wait...
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And those patents, by patent number, are?
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Questions
The original article notes that you can't copyright physical objects. Blueprints and drawings from a design are copyrightable as I understand it. And any object produced may infringe on the design itself. I just can't reproduce the rendering of the object.
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Good news?
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This is a 57-part patent making 57 separate claims, each of which applies to binary files used in a wide variety of processes, "attaching, printing, painting, engraving and/or tattooing". I didn't even know there was such a thing as digital tattooing, but hey, it's now patented, in 57 different ways!
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obviousness
end of story someone needs force them into court on it.
WHY? PRIOR art exists on other platforms.....and i'll bet they are using an existing DRM program or method that restricts access....if they do then its fraud too.
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Re: Questions
Maybe not, but that won't stop corporations from using legal threats to stop the spread of 3D printing;
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110630/03133214920/prop-wars-can-paramount-prevent-p eople-offering-up-plans-to-3d-print-movie-props.shtml
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Replicator Impairment
Or will we see legacy players doing everything they can to prevent such development? What would manufacturing and food production look like in such a world, one with a replicator affordable enough that they are like hand held calculators available for $2.00 to us today.
If we take manufacturing (I suppose someone will have to build replicators until that time when they build a replicator function into our replicators) and food production out of the workforce what will we do with our (by then) 10 billion inhabitants?
Since there will be no 'work' left, everyone (not charged with maintaining replicators) will be in the entertainment business or making new designs to feed into the worlds replicators (micro-payments to the developer?).
Given all that and other nightmare scenarios I am imagining, I still want my replicator...now!
/end nightmare
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Re: Replicator Impairment
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It is a good example of how to say little with the maximum number of words. I suspect that reading it in detail broke the patent examiners brain, and that is why it was granted, he/she did not want to see it resubmitted with minor tweaks.
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Customization versus Intellectual Property.
Looking at what I actually did in the last couple of weeks, I note that I had occasion to take a pair of great heavy boots in to the cobbler, for new soles and heels. Inclusive of taxicab fare, this came to something in excess of a hundred dollars. I had originally bought the boots for a hundred and sixty dollars, at the local Red Wing store, and these are of course boots of the plainest possible description, with no decorative tooling or anything like that. At the time of purchase, the cobbler had done about a hundred dollars worth of custom-tailoring, if one can apply that word to boot leather, that is, lengthening the shaft to knee height, inserting additional rubber in the insole to bring it up to the level of a running shoe, and inserting a corrective wedge in the heel, as my ankles have a tendency to bow outwards when walking on hillsides. These are things which the manufacturer could have done without any great difficulty, if it had been geared to talking with the customer, rather than selling a standard style and size on a "take-it-or-leave-it" basis, through a multi-tier dealer-distributor network. I suppose that plastic prototypes could have been used to facilitate fitting and custom manufacture. However, for the present, plastic is not a satisfactory substitute for leather.
Before buying two pairs of boots, I went in and had a talk with the cobbler, saying, "since you are going to be repairing the things, how do you feel about Red Wing's current product? Have they been doing anything you don't approve of?" We both knew that a maker of premium boots is under temptation to "monetize" its reputation by covertly substituting plastic for leather, the way Frye's did, back around 1980. He assured me that Red Wing's reputation was still good, that they hadn't changed anything, and that the local Red Wing dealer (which is also the local military surplus store) was okay, and I went off to place an order for boots. I've been wearing the same general type of boots for the last forty years, and the same brand for the last twenty. Boots of a broadly similar type can be found in illustrations dating back to at least the 1630's, more than three hundred and fifty years ago. In this context, intellectual property simply doesn't mean much of anything. What matters is fit and workmanship.
To Anonymous Coward, #17.
The quality of the raw material matters. The term "shoddy" has an interesting history. It originally referred to a kind of recycled cotton waste. During the American Civil War (1861-65), contractors, intent on making a quick buck, spun and wove the shoddy up into cloth, dyed it Army Blue, and made it into uniforms. When worn by troops in the field, in the rain and the mud, the fabric tended to disintegrate. The Army remembers, of course, and is famously sticky about what it buys. Army surplus clothing is famous for being hard-wearing.
There are of course horror stories, like the one in the Technology Review comments about the man whose $12,000 paper-cutting machine was crippled for want of a plastic knob, and the manufacturers of the machine merely saw that as an opportunity to exploit him financially, at the expense of their own long-term reputation.
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Re: 'digital tattoo'
This does things like ensure you use exactly the disc that came with a computer to reinstall an OS, or make the whole machine have fits if you just need to replace the HDD or add expansion cards.
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Patent busting...
Read up;
http://meta.patents.stackexchange.com/questions/105/i-want-to-make-a-difference-how-can-i-submi t-prior-art-to-the-patent-office?cb=1
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Re: Good news?
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Print a car ...
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Nice Try Buttheads....
The ITEM being manufactured has a "key" identifier or data object within the digital file that corresponds/is verified by the manufacturing "machine" before production. Can you say code signing?
GOOD FUCKING LUCK enforcing that one.
Intellectual Ventures is a parasitic organization. They make money off of threats and lawsuit settlements.
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Leather Manufacturer Producer & Exporter.
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Flat feet, plantar fasciitis, diabetes, are some common issues that cause pain in the feet. Sportsmen often face issues with feet pain.
Custom insoles are the solution to feet pain, providing relief and comfort almost instantly.
https://shapecrunch.com/foot-pain-remedies/
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