No Glasses Required: 3D Printing And The Current Canadian IP Framework

3D printing is now being used to create everything from personalized body parts to personalized bobbleheads. While the potential applications of 3D printing are immense, these applications also raise many legal questions, and create several challenges as organizations adapt to this new technology, particularly challenges related to the protection of intellectual property (IP).

3D printing, also known as "additive manufacturing", is a process of creating a three-dimensional object from a digital model by successively "adding" together layers of material in the shape of a desired object. 3D printing is in contrast to traditional machining processes which are "subtractive" and rely on the removal of material.