PGA Intellectual Property was invited to participate at the Seminar “3D Printers and Intellectual Property: Opportunities and Problems of a Technological Revolution” that will be held in Fabriano (Italy) on June 9, 2017.

Additive printing technology is becoming more and more pervasive, changing the way of designing, implementing and deploying products, and deeply transforming all manufacturing sectors.

The Seminar, in which Eng. Paolo Santonicola will intervene as rapporteur, will deepen the legal implications that 3D printing involves in the protection of patents, designs and models.

The 3D makers’ community fears that a too strict application of industrial property rights may lead to a decline of the so-called third industrial revolution, based on three-dimensional printing. On the other hand, the inventors’ community fears that, since the 3D printer can be placed in a domestic environment, its use could be considered as a private and non-commercial act, and therefore cannot be prosecuted under patent law.

It is understood, therefore, that three-dimensional printing, will bring not only extraordinary opportunities, but also raises several problems. Whilst it is not possible to conceive a system that tightens up the development of new forms of production, it is not even desirable to overlook the efforts and investments that have led to the creation of new forms or new products.

More detailed information on the Seminar is available at http://www.marchiedisegni.eu/fabriano-9-giugno-2017.