Printer's IP and patent rights?

[Toonces2 0]

I'm a bit of a maker, and for a good while now I've thought about getting into printing for the fun of it and to see where my ideas go.  Recently, I've had an idea for what I think would be a marketable piece that would serve as an add-on accessory to current woodworking power tools.  Although similar to what's already out there, my version would be a significant enough improvement on current forms that I'm sure it would qualify for protection.

 

So, being new to this field of small time manufacturing, I'm wondering about what kind of protections are offered to 3D-printed products that are already out there but may not necessarily have patent protection, as that's where I'll be entering the field.  I'll be looking into IP and patent protection asap, but in the meantime, if I put something out there, what's to stop someone from just scanning my new products and putting it out for themselves without having done the hard work and analysis that goes into designing such a piece?

[ahoeben 1,992]

1 hour ago, Toonces2 said:

if I put something out there, what's to stop someone from just scanning my new products and putting it out for themselves without having done the hard work and analysis that goes into designing such a piece?

Nothing really. Good ideas get stolen (as well as bad ideas)

[Slashee_the_Cow 443]

49 minutes ago, ahoeben said:

Good ideas get stolen (as well as bad ideas)

Good artists copy. Great artists steal.

 

Actual response begins here. Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer (or anything remotely close) just someone mildly interested in IP law, and laws will vary depending on your region.

2 hours ago, Toonces2 said:

my version would be a significant enough improvement on current forms that I'm sure it would qualify for protection.

Then apply for a patent. You should work with a professional if you want to apply for a patent. Not that I've ever tried applying for a patent, but I imagine the paperwork is a real pain in the <insert sensitive region here>. You'll generally need longform descriptions and annotated illustrations of your product.

 

Enforcing it is another matter altogether.

There's pretty much nothing you can do to stop someone scanning one and printing some for their friends.

A company making a profit: that's something you can target, but it's very expensive to even try. You will need proper legal representation. You'll have to prove that you have suffered a loss because of their actions. The really annoying ones will dig into existing patents, find anything remotely close to yours, and claim you were inspired by that so you didn't have an original idea to patent.

 

China: The land IP laws forgot.

There's almost nothing you can do if your thing is so awesome that it gets copied by a company in China (or some other nations, but the main offender is China). There'll be a white label version of your thing and it will proliferate all the stores that sell cheap Chinese crap. You can't do anything about the manufacturers and while you can pursue legal action against anyone who sells it, that just turns into a game of whack-a-mole where for every one you stop, two more show up.

 

3 hours ago, Toonces2 said:

but in the meantime, if I put something out there, what's to stop someone from just scanning my new products and putting it out for themselves without having done the hard work and analysis that goes into designing such a piece?

As @ahoeben said, nothing. You'll need at least apply for a patent (and not get immediately knocked back) and mark your product as patent pending.

 

And now for an aside you don't have to read:

This is why I #%$@ing hate copyright law. Copyright is automatic, and companies have successfully lobbied governments worldwide for copyright to extend far past the death of the original creator, when the original creator getting paid for their work was the idea in the first place. I can 3D print some wall art and I immediately have more rights to go after people who copy it than you do with your genuinely useful thing. Of course, it's another minefield of "prove they copied it from you", "foreign countries don't give a stuff", and "taking action against sellers is an impossible game of whack-a-mole".

 

But I can still stick an illustration of a cow on a wall and I've got more rights than you and your genuinely useful thing.

[ahoeben 1,992]

5 hours ago, Slashee_the_Cow said:

You'll need at least apply for a patent (and not get immediately knocked back) and mark your product as patent pending.

But even then, anyone can copy your idea. A patent is not a magic protection. You have to fight anyone who you think infringes on your patent. That costs time, money and lots of energy.

[Slashee_the_Cow 443]

2 hours ago, ahoeben said:

But even then, anyone can copy your idea. A patent is not a magic protection. You have to fight anyone who you think infringes on your patent. That costs time, money and lots of energy.

I covered that in the "enforcing it is another matter altogether" section. Was just saying that's the very least you need to do in the short term before you try to start selling your thing.

 

And for what it's worth, here's what I already have more rights to go after anyone who copies it than you do for your actually useful thing: