News 3D printer maker Bambu Lab faces patent infringement lawsuits that could threaten hobbyist 3D printing in general

[Admin]

In east Texas, two lawsuits have begun that could have far-reaching consequences for hobbyist 3D printing as a whole.

3D printer maker Bambu Lab faces patent infringement lawsuits that could threaten hobbyist 3D printing in general : Read more

 

[Aaron Priest]

They always come from a small town in East Texas. Austin Meyer of X-Plane was sued by a patent troll for simply putting an app in the Google App Store for Androids. Someone owns a patent on using app stores essentially, and they sue people that use them, not the companies like Apple or Google or Microsoft that make the stores. He got fed up enough that he made a movie about patent trolls and how huge a problem it has become for business owners. Most of the patent trolls are just empty shell companies owned by lawyers that have never invented a thing. It's well worth watching. You can watch it on YouTube here:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN9ASmBMT6E

 

[HalKatz]

Is patent law like trademark law? If they haven't been enforcing these patents for a long time, does that undermine their case?

 

[USAFRet]

Is patent law like trademark law? If they haven't been enforcing these patents for a long time, does that undermine their case?

No.
Patent law is very much unlike trademark law.

As an owner of a Bambu X1C, I am very interested in how this shakes out.

 

[purposelycryptic]

The heated bed patent is kind of ridiculous - now, if they had patented a specific unique, non-obvious implementation of heating the bed, that could be worthy of a patent. But just heated beds in general? That is both insanely overbroad, and incredibly obvious.

Patent law in the US really is just a total mess, and has been for decades. It's actively stifling innovation and blocking new players from joining their industries (or getting almost immediately bought out, along with their patents). Pretty much the exact opposite of what it was created for.

Just one of (many) things desperately in need of a complete teardown and rebuild...

 

[USAFRet]

The heated bed patent is kind of ridiculous - now, if they had patented a specific unique, non-obvious implementation of heating the bed, that could be worthy of a patent. But just heated beds in general? That is both insanely overbroad, and incredibly obvious.

Many of those things mentioned are 'obvious'.

Basically, this is a case of "Throw a bunch of stuff at the wall, and see what might stick".

 

[jasonhartsoe]

You realize this isn’t new right? There’s even an old documentary on this. Stratasys has been suing 3D manufactures for a few decades now. First with makerbot (which they ended up buying), then with formlabs (ended up licensing)….since then they’ve been suing others who kept quiet through NDA’s. So this isn’t a first for them. Stratasys’s stock is plummeting and the old man is greedy and cares only about his money rather than the future of the tech and community. They’re losing hundreds of thousands on an outdated machine when you can buy bambu’s for a few thousand with much better tech. He didn’t even create these patents, he bought them. Just an old greedy man with a few years of life left trying to take from others. If bambu just drags it out long enough, it might fix itself. They need to stand up to this patent troll and put a stop to those who cause harm to the future of tech. The courts should block or void every patent and patent troll that hinders the advancement of science, technology, and the betterment of the human race.

 

[USAFRet]

patent troll

'Nuff said.

 

[jasonhartsoe]

'Nuff said.

Agreed

 

[gwyncwn]

Just need to add this.

the heated build area. It is build area not bed. And according to google patents it is expired for a lifetime.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US6722872B1/en