D. Mendis & D. Secchi – A Legal and Empirical Study of 3D Printing Online Platforms and an Analysis of User Behaviour (London: Intellectual Property Office; 2015)

Download Report here (64 pages).

This is the first of a two-party study (and an executive summary) commissioned and funded by out for the UK Intellectual Property Office and authored by Dr. Dinusha Mendis and Dr. Davide Secchi (Southern University Denmark).

Study I considers the implications for intellectual property law, particularly copyright law, as a result of online sharing platforms dedicated to 3D printing. As such, this Study applies a legal and empirical analysis, to provide a clearer understanding of ‘how’ the sharing happens to provide an understanding of the ‘parameters’ for sharing, e.g. terms and conditions, rules, regulations that apply, together with restrictions and bounds that apply to user behaviour and file-sharing.

The current research evaluates the extent of this phenomenon amongst users and explores the activities carried out on online platforms. In doing so, the research examines the price, downloads, licences, type of physical objects, which are shared and the implications for intellectual property laws. In relation to the latter aspect of intellectual property laws, this Study focuses particularly on copyright law.