Additive Manufacturing or 3D printing as it is more commonly known, continues to push the boundaries of Intellectual Property (IP) law whilst raising questions relating to the protection and exploitation of IP.
This challenge, which extends to the lucrative jewellery sectorraises further questions in relation to creativity, design, copyright and licensing.
This event, which builds on the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) Commissioned Study on 3D Printing and IP law, led by Bournemouth University (BU) during 2013-2014 (reports published in 2015), will explore some of these questions by bringing together experts from the cultural and business sectors including designers, manufacturers, distributors, policy makers and legal professionals.
Gabriele Montelisciani has just joined the Bit by Bit project as a visitor for the next two months. In this guest post, Gabriele introduces himself and the work that he will do during his visit to Cambridge.
Bit by Bit visitor Gabriele Montelisciani
I’m a PhD student in Management and Industrial Engineering at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, in formal partnership with the University of Pisa. I have a Master’s degree in Management Engineering, with specialisation in the fields of Innovation and Business Processes Management. My research interests include: methods and tools for early stage innovation and creativity; collaborative design; sustainable innovation and development; Internet of Things, and business modeling and entrepreneurship.
I’m part of the team of the organizational team of the University of Pisa’s Technology Transfer program for entrepreneurship education and startups creation called PhDplus. I’m also a founding member of the organization Fablab Pisa, a member of the Pisa Living Lab, and a member of the International Review Committee of the International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE Conference).
During the two months that I’m visiting the Centre for Technology Management, I will support the “Bit by Bit” project group by investigating the evolution of additive manufacturing technologies and business models for desktop application. I’ll explore how the patent landscape is evolving in relation to open innovation initiatives.
The field of additive manufacturing has rapidly evolved in the last decade. The sector is facing a particular phenomenon whereby the concept of open innovation, carried out by the Makers movement, has arisen in opposition to the protection of innovation (patents), carried out by big players. The consequence is that the patent landscape is changing.
Low cost 3D printing devices have begun to reach individual consumers following the expiry of important patents related to the most common 3D printing technologies (i.e. fused deposition modeling technologies). This phenomenon generated an increased interest from incumbents in this market, and it is of particular interest to investigate how they are planning to protect the actual and future value in terms of intellectual property.
The research methodology I’ll employ during my investigation is based on three main steps:
Analysis of patent databases and data interpretation;
Crosscheck to sector experts to validate the results obtained;
Final reporting.
I welcome any suggestions or comments on this research activity. Please contact me at gm512@cam.ac.uk.
Capturing the value 
