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Their video says "patent pending technology". I already emailed the EFF's patentbusters with a link to prior art. It would be such an awesome thing if they wer

by Kliment 14y ago

Their video says "patent pending technology". I already emailed the EFF's patentbusters with a link to prior art. It would be such an awesome thing if they weren't trying to take it away from the rest of the world.

leoedin 14y ago
Are you completely against patents, or just against some? The people who produced this have obviously spent a significant amount of time working out how to make this possible. I haven't seen their patents, but I doubt they're as generic as "A device which extrudes plastic in 3D space". Have you read the patents they've submitted and actually found prior art for the exact aspects of the design they've patented? Patents are designed for this kind of thing. They allow these guys to sell the results of their work without getting ripped off straight away by someone who spent none of the money doing R&D and so just has to cover their costs.
- eaurouge 14y ago
  Clearly this 3D printing pen is innovative, but that does not necessarily imply that it includes patentable inventions. The technology used looks like FDM (fused deposition modeling) 3D printing extended to free hand, without support material. The key technology here that makes this 3D/air printing possible is the gooey material that the pen releases. If this material has properties that other existing materials do not have, then it may be patentable. Also if the pen releases material in a manner that is new and novel, then it too may be patentable.
  - ericb 14y ago
    I more or less did this 2 weeks ago while testing the extruder for my 3d printer (and I'm no pioneer here). I used Kliment's (parent of thread) software to cause filament to extrude from my 3d printer's nozzle (the hot end) while I tried to write letters to test it was working ok. Now someone is trying to claim this "new technology" is patentable.
- Kliment 14y ago
  I am a reprap core developer and I've seen this exact thing a number of times. There is documented prior art from 2010. Someone I know has had that device on their desk for the past year. There is no part of it that is innovative. They do not deserve a patent. By applying for a patent, they destroy their credibility in the field. Which is all extremely sad and stupid because it's a cool product and they've thought of very creative stuff to make with it. They are wasting effort and money on patenting this stuff when they could just execute better than everyone else and have the market for what is clearly a fad to themselves. The more money they waste on crap like that, the less likely they are to deliver in time. On that note, hell yeah I am completely against patents. Patents are the biggest threat to open hardware, and open hardware is my life.
davorak 14y ago
You can always post this as a question to http://patents.stackexchange.com http://patents.stackexchange.com and then add the answers you have collected already as an answer. I encourage you do so since I do not know a better place to document prior are for patents.

by Kliment 14y ago

leoedin 14y ago

Are you completely against patents, or just against some? The people who produced this have obviously spent a significant amount of time working out how to make this possible. I haven't seen their patents, but I doubt they're as generic as "A device which extrudes plastic in 3D space". Have you read the patents they've submitted and actually found prior art for the exact aspects of the design they've patented? Patents are designed for this kind of thing. They allow these guys to sell the results of their work without getting ripped off straight away by someone who spent none of the money doing R&D and so just has to cover their costs.

eaurouge 14y ago
Clearly this 3D printing pen is innovative, but that does not necessarily imply that it includes patentable inventions. The technology used looks like FDM (fused deposition modeling) 3D printing extended to free hand, without support material. The key technology here that makes this 3D/air printing possible is the gooey material that the pen releases. If this material has properties that other existing materials do not have, then it may be patentable. Also if the pen releases material in a manner that is new and novel, then it too may be patentable.
- ericb 14y ago
  I more or less did this 2 weeks ago while testing the extruder for my 3d printer (and I'm no pioneer here). I used Kliment's (parent of thread) software to cause filament to extrude from my 3d printer's nozzle (the hot end) while I tried to write letters to test it was working ok. Now someone is trying to claim this "new technology" is patentable.
Kliment 14y ago
I am a reprap core developer and I've seen this exact thing a number of times. There is documented prior art from 2010. Someone I know has had that device on their desk for the past year. There is no part of it that is innovative. They do not deserve a patent. By applying for a patent, they destroy their credibility in the field. Which is all extremely sad and stupid because it's a cool product and they've thought of very creative stuff to make with it. They are wasting effort and money on patenting this stuff when they could just execute better than everyone else and have the market for what is clearly a fad to themselves. The more money they waste on crap like that, the less likely they are to deliver in time. On that note, hell yeah I am completely against patents. Patents are the biggest threat to open hardware, and open hardware is my life.

davorak 14y ago

You can always post this as a question to http://patents.stackexchange.com http://patents.stackexchange.com and then add the answers you have collected already as an answer. I encourage you do so since I do not know a better place to document prior are for patents.