On 3 July 2018, the European Parliament adopted a resolution entitled ‘Three-dimensional printing: a challenge in the fields of intellectual property rights and civil liability’.
The resolution starts by pointing out that 3D printing – also known as additive manufacturing – could be of great benefit to the European economy.
But the document mainly looks at the legal issues the technology raises. For example, it says more public awareness is needed to protect IP rights relating to 3D printing and calls on the European Commission to consider issues around civil liability. It even suggests the Commission could set up a specific liability regime.
According to the Parliament, the EU may have to adopt new, and amend existing, laws to take account of 3D printing. With the report claiming that Europe can play a leading role in additive manufacturing, it will be interesting to see how quickly the Commission moves to tackle the issues raised.
You can read more about the legal challenges of additive manufacturing in one of my previous blogs.
