Patent Monetization In The 3-D Printing Era

There has been a lot of talk recently about the proliferation of 3-D printing and the impact it will have on intellectual property rights holders, particularly in the consumer products space. The time has come when consumer products and other goods can easily be reproduced on an inexpensive household 3-D printer. Many have equated this phenomenon to the digital revolution in the music industry, where record companies eventually transformed from selling physical products such as compact discs and DVDs, to selling electronic data files online.

Before switching to the online model, record companies attempted to enforce their intellectual property rights against file-sharing websites such as Napster and Grokster. However, after years of litigation, the record companies joined in on the digital revolution and licensed their rights, resulting in legitimate music download services such as iTunes.