Intellectual Property Protection of 3D Printing Using Secured Streaming

3D printing technology is a new and emerging technology which is capable of changing the world. However, an easy access to 3D printing technology makes a convenient way to illegally reproduce physical objects regardless of copyrights, license, and royalty payments. As 3D printing of physical things at home might become the “new normal,” it will pose threats to traditional intellectual property laws, which were created in an era when copyright infringement of physical objects, or also defined as “physibles,” was yet to come. The authors have brought forward the legal issues and have attempted to describe a unique technical solution—secured streaming which solves or at least partially solves the problem of copyrights in 3D printing. The proposed solution provides a possibility for a copyright owner to limit the number of 3D prints. He can specify the number of copies that are allowed for the manufacturer or an end user to produce. Moreover, secured streaming has detective and protective controls to detect information system compromises and to stop streaming of 3D designs to 3D printers.