Formlabs In Settlement Talks Over 3D Printing Patent Lawsuit 57
curtwoodward writes "Formlabs raised nearly $3 million in a month for its new Form 1 3D printer, which uses stereolithography to make precise models and other physical objects out of photoreactive liquid polymer. But 3D Systems — the publicly traded company founded by the guy who invented that process — sued the startup for patent infringement. Formlabs recently announced that it would start shipping its pre-ordered Form 1 printers, and that was no coincidence: the two companies quietly entered into settlement talks in early May, and hope to have a deal done by September."
Re:legit patent suit? (Score:4, Funny)
Being ignorant of something does not mean its harmful.
What exactly is "unproven" about patents doing more good then harm? What, just because you don't like them they are obvious harmful? Your ignorance is more harmful then patents.
You claim that patents restrict someone's freedom? So you believe then that its OK for someone to steal another idea and make money off it when someone else spends the time, effort and money to create the idea? You think the world is going to run on the honor system the moment patent and copyright laws are abolished? What a insanely stupid thing to believe.
Yes, there are many patents that are not just worthy, and I agree there is a huge issue with the patent application and granting process. The patent system needs reform for sure.
However patents themselves were ACTUALLY created to allow someone to invent something and then have it protected from unscrupulous people that would otherwise simply steal the idea and profit off it for themselves. Patents also actually publicly disclose the invention so that another person or company could build off them, provided they enter a partnership with the original patent holder. That could include licensing, royalty, or even agreeing to merge the ideas so both can profit off the end results. It gives the "freedom" of the person that invented the idea to decide how to proceed with it. The opposite of a patent, by the way, is a trade secret in which a company does not disclose in any form the invention and hope their competition is no capable of discovering how the invention works. It's a pretty much dead concept because even the most complicated system can be reversed engineered, but imagine how much innovation would be stifled if all companies worked off the idea of trade secrets and every company had to build something from scratch without any chance of cooperation or partnership.
It is simply not valid to assume that someone has a right to build off or refine an invention without entering a partnership or cooperation with the original inventor. And under MOST circumstances both parties will find some way to work together that benefits both of them. It's companies like Apple that abuse patents that operate under the premise of wanting to destroy their competition by holding a larger patent portfolio they refuse to cross license. But even then I would argue it forces companies like Google to out-innovate to compete rather then just building off of another idea. So even the premise of constant refinement through free and open invention is a fallacy.
Finally, patents are not mandatory. Nobody forces you to have to file a patent, so NO freedoms are being restricted here. I can't stand ignorant statements involving "Freedom" because it misses the point that someone has the right and freedom TO protect their content just as much as freely offer it to the world. And you can freely choose to invent something and offer it to the world as public domain however you have absolutely NO right to expect or assume compensation or even acknowledgement of being the creator of the invention. The world just doesn't work that way, there is ALWAYS someone looking for the easy way to make money. Even Open Source was created to protect acknowledgement of the original inventor of a piece of work and prevents another individual from "closing" it to profit off of someone else's idea. So even in the benevolent world of Open Source you still do not have total freedom to rip someone off and profit from their invention.