Here’s a rather unfortunate development for the 3D printing community:
http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20131125-907489.html
CONTACT: Stratasys Inc.
Investor Contact :
Shane Glenn, + 1-952-294-3416 (US)
or
Media Contacts:
Aaron Masterson, +1-952-346-6258 (US)
or
Joe Hiemenz, +1-952-906-2726 (US)
or
Arita Mattsoff, + 972 - (0)74-745-4000 (IL)
SOURCE: Stratasys Inc.
Copyright Business Wire 2013
Posted under Fair Use protections.
What is the specific patents? I know stratasys filed some bogus patents recently.
there are three - I’ll need to go look for them - they were posted in a different community, I think.
@Matt_Kraemer1 , are you opposed to the patent system in general?
Patents are only ok for a limited amount of time and for something truly novel - in my opinion. They are however, extended for well beyond recouping investments and are used to stifle both competition and real innovation. There have been many posts on this subject over at TechDirt.com proving that the current system is very broken and needs to be refurbished. The laws are no longer reasonable.
Sorry, I am not trying to represent Mat opinion, but I am hoping you we’re just looking for a good discussion of the merits on the current system. The assumption here is that Stratasys are taking up the TROLL title for squashing competition like a bug, and that riles the maker community, as far as what I’ve seen.
Regardless of whether or not IP claims should be honored, IP is generally incompatible with personal manufacturing (including 3d printing) for all practical purposes. That said, it is best not to go out and sell, for profit, things other people have created without permission. Eventually IP will go the way of the dinosaurs as open source expands and regulators fail to control, but we don’t want anarchy along the way as we get to that point.
@Matt_Kraemer1 r if you’re willing to do that, you can just patent it in the normal way and after the three years are up assign the patent to an open source foundation of your choice which undertakes not to assert it. Bam.
IP. That means thought. Nothing more if I have done something before them their ip is invalid end of story
And when you say “end of story”, by story you mean your company, right? You can’t afford to try proving in court that that patent is invalid. No matter how much prior art you think you have.
Yes I can as its not law only if its in my head first they dont own it.
Most of these IP are not legal in Europe thats why there’s just a USA number not a European one as USA patent law is a push over to register stuff.
Hence Apple losing in Europe but winning in USA.
We are dealing with a rather messy transition. The world is going from a Patent/IP/Copyright system to a wide open “do what you want with it, but try to give credit to where its due” system. I wish I knew how to make that transition less awkward but it IS a juggernaut, driven by the advancement of technology, especially personal computing/recording/printing/manufacturing. Its an unstoppable wave. You can stand up against it and get slammed down, or go surfing. 
Read my comment @Rustin_L_Haase maybe you might learn something before you surf
From a post in the 3D Printing community:
Tim Rastall (MODERATOR) Yesterday 3:45 PM
All the stratasys patents and applications can be found here: http://www.faqs.org/patents/assignee/stratasys-inc/
Likely candidate for the liquifier assembly infringement is http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090273122 One of the diagrams Figure 4 looks like an Alfina extruder drive.
This one will be the tool paths infringement (where they have patented something that is basically common sense, I came up with the idea independently so it can’t be that special)
http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20110070394
Can’t find any relevant direct references to temp control or porosity.
Is it a USA patent or world wide.
Thats the crux of this.
The patent information is so vague I believe that its a US patent only.
@Nigel_Dickinson
Based on your comment, it would be good to be selective on WHERE you surf. Some day anywhere, but for right now one must be selective. Fortunately, thanks to the internet, one can be anywhere they want to be at any time. People who love freedom bring themselves and their economic activity with them to where the surfing is good. Hang Ten!!
If person A does something and person B does it a little bit differently, why should person B be able to file a patent? If person A posts something publicly and person B decides to file a patent on that, shouldn’t it be disallowed due to it already being public domain? These are ideas that I think mean the patent system is full of bullshit. I do not think the patent system accounts for such ideas.
Some additional details:
So its the shitty US patents that dont stand up in the rest of the world.
Simple register your office and manufacturing outside the USA and hey presto no problem
Do you have any idea how large the US market is? You don’t just need to move your headquarters, you also can’t sell to anyone there. Dropping your market size by a third to half tends to make bankers ignore your business case.