BU Research Blog

On 9 November 2018, Professor Dinusha Mendis of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management (CIPPM), hosted and led an Expert Meeting on the Intellectual Property (IP) Implications of 3D Printing at the European Commission, Brussels.

The Expert Meeting was hosted as part of the European Commission funded project on the Study into IP Implications on the Development of Industrial 3D Printing, which is being led by Professor Dinusha Mendis. Dr. Julie Robson (Co-Investigator) of the Faculty of Management and Mr. Dukki Hong (Research Assistant, PhD Candidate Law) were other project team members from BU who also participated in the expert meeting.

The expert meeting included invitees from the industrial, policy and academic sectors thereby drawing on views from key stakeholders in this field. Representative organisations included the EU Intellectual Property Office, European Patent Office, CECIMO, Materialise, HP, Prodintec amongst others. Amongst the academics invited, Dr. Marc Mimler (Member of Advisory Board) of CIPPM was also in attendance.

The EU-funded project led by Professor Mendis (Principal Investigator) consists of other UK and European partners including University of Glasgow, Scotland; Added Scientific Ltd UK, Technopolis Group Vienna Austria, University of Lapland, Finland and Boehmert & Boehmert, Munich Germany. The project is currently in progress and is due for completion in May 2019.

The project aims to provide an overview of the past and current industrial applications of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in selected sectors whilst identifying potential challenges and opportunities in need of clarification. In essence, the Study will aim to formulate a clear picture of the Intellectual Property (IP) framework that could enhance the competitiveness of the AM sector in Europe.

The current work builds on the Commissioned project on the Intellectual Property Implications of 3D Printing, which Professor Mendis led for the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) between 2013-2015 and the AHRC/CREATe project which Professor Mendis led between 2015-2017.