3D printing: threat or opportunity? – article Louwers in ECTA Bulletin

In the October edition of the authoritative bulletin of the European Communities Trademark Association ECTA a concise article was published authored by Ernst-Jan Louwers about 3D printing under the title ‘3D printing: threat or opportunity’.

From the introduction:

“3D printing is seen as iconic for the so-called Third Industrial Revolution. Apart from interesting opportunities, these disruptive technologies may introduce new legal challenges. These include counterfeit, piracy, (product) liability issues and enforcement. The risk of infringement is accelerated by the ease of dissemination of illegal copies and the fact that 3D scanners and printers are available at affordable prices.”

The full article can be downloaded here.

Ernst-Jan Louwers writes regularly about 3D printing and additive manufacturing and also gives lectures on the subject frequently, such as for instance this autumn in Vienna at the annual meeting of the international trademark owners association Marques (see the item on this conference).