A lawsuit over patent infringement in the 3D printing industry with potentially significant consequences for the whole industry and its end users.

Stratasys, an American/Israeli company listed on the Nasdaq, has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese company Bambulab, alleging that it infringes on several of its patents. The patents in question include the heating of the print bed and the use of a "prime tower," which is used for creating multi-color 3D prints. In a second lawsuit, the digital transmission of a complete print file with instructions to the printer is cited as a patent infringement.

This lawsuit could have significant implications for the FDM printing industry, designers, and makers who use 3D printing. The timing is notable, and the underlying motive for the lawsuit is not entirely clear to me.

In FDM printing, thin layers of plastic are laid down in a specific pattern, one on top of the other. This process occurs at high temperatures, over 200 degrees Celsius, which causes the layers to fuse together into a solid object. However, if the plastic cools too quickly, it shrinks, causing the print to warp. This is mainly a problem with the lower layers of a 3D print, which are printed on the metal print bed. With a properly heated bed, the print does not shrink. With an unheated or improperly heated bed, the likelihood of shrinkage and warping is much higher. Nowadays, almost every 3D printer, regardless of the manufacturer, uses a heated bed—a common technology.

Another alleged patent infringement is related to the prime tower, which is used in multi-color printing. The technical challenge of multi-color printing is ensuring that the colors remain clear and do not mix. There are several techniques to achieve this, one of which is using a prime tower. After loading a new color into the printhead, the printhead moves to a spot on the print bed where it prints a small section, effectively cleaning the printhead. Bambulab uses this technique, as do others, including Makerbot (a subsidiary of Stratasys).

In addition to these two examples, the lawsuits describe several other technical aspects that may be too complex to cover here.

Why is Stratasys doing this? Is it truly to protect their consumer products (Makerbot)? Or are there other motives? Bambulab is a relative newcomer that has quickly gained significant market share. They have managed to bring affordable, sleek-looking 3D printers to the market. You don't need technical knowledge to start 3D printing with them; you just unpack them, plug them in, and start printing! The prints are of good quality and rarely fail. Stratasys' (consumer) printers, by contrast, are relatively expensive and more complex to use.

Why specifically target Bambulab? It's notable that Bambulab has been sued, but not Prusa, a European manufacturer of consumer 3D printers that keeps everything open source. They also use a heated bed. We are waiting for a response from Bambulab. So far, they have only issued a brief statement on X.

I’m not a lawyer, but I do wonder how some of these patents were even granted to Stratasys. These were widely used techniques in the 3D printing industry. Some are so broadly defined that a lot can fall under a single patent. Can this still be considered a patentable technique or innovation? Don’t get me wrong—I am a strong advocate for protecting designs, intellectual property, and patents. I do that with my own designs too. But it shouldn’t be the case that widely used techniques are patented and then used to take others to court. This hampers further innovation. It costs companies money—money that could be better spent, for example, on developing the next generation of 3D printers.

What happens next? And what if Stratasys wins this lawsuit? Will Stratasys then go after all other manufacturers to sue them? Are they seeking a revenue model based on royalties? Settlements could be cheaper than long, expensive legal battles. Bambulab isn’t perfect either, and they are closed-source. They also patent things, supposedly to prevent misuse. Time will tell how this lawsuit plays out and what the ultimate impact on the industry and its users will be.

Below are the links to the lawsuits:

1

2

Translation from Dutch generated by ChatGPT.

#Stratasys #Bambulab #3dprinting #StudioBasSala #innovation #makercommunity #lawsuit #Designer #Prusaresearch