3D printing and the intellectual property system

Stefan Bechtold
Additional contact information
Stefan Bechtold: ETH Zurich

No 28, WIPO Economic Research Working Papers from World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division

Abstract: Three-dimensional (3D) printing – or 'additive manufacturing' – technologies differ from traditional molding and casting manufacturing processes in that they build 3D objects by successively creating layers of material on top of each other. Rooted in manufacturing research of the 1980s, 3D printing has evolved into a broad set of technologies that could fundamentally alter production processes in a wide set of technology areas. This report investigates, from the perspective of an intellectual property scholar, how 3D printing technology has developed over the last few decades, how intellectual property rights have shaped this breakthrough innovation and how 3D printing technologies could challenge the intellectual property rights system in the future. As in other areas of innovation policy, the role of the intellectual property system in fostering innovation in 3D printing technologies is a complex one. It played a beneficial role in some instances (sometimes intended and sometimes unintended), and it may have played a neutral or detrimental role in other instances. Studying the progress of 3D printing technologies thereby also informs us about the intricate relationship between intellectual property and innovation.

Keywords: Innovation; 3D printing; intellectual property. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K29 L60 O30 O32 O34 O38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18 pages
Date: 2015-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ict, nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-pr~, nep-knm and nep-law
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_econstat_wp_28.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wip:wpaper:28

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in WIPO Economic Research Working Papers from World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Economics and Statistics Division ().