As global competition around 3D printing heats up, we’re likely to see a lot of new innovations from 3D printing companies. We’re also likely to see a lot of lawsuits relative to those innovations. One company that knows this well is Massachusetts-based MIT-spin-out Formlabs, which is now hit with its second lawsuit in four years. This time, the lawsuit is being filed against the young manufacturer of stereolithography (SLA) 3D printers by EnvisionTEC.
In a press release today, EnvisionTEC announced that Formlabs has infringed upon two EnvisionTEC patents. Now, the company is seeking injunctive relief against Formlabs to prevent the SLA manufacturer from selling its machines any longer, as well as payment for past and current infringement.
EnvisionTEC CEO Al Siblani explained the reasons for pursuing the suit: “EnvisionTEC has been inventing, developing, manufacturing and selling 3D printers, materials and other related technologies and services for nearly 15 years. Today, we hold numerous patents around the world covering a variety of our 3D printing products, methods and more. This intellectual property was researched and developed over many years by our innovative team of professionals and is invaluable to our business serving a variety of medical, professional and industrial markets around the world. We are committed to aggressively protecting our intellectual property in accordance with the laws of the countries in which we operate.”
EnvisionTEC is already an established player in the 3D printing space as the original pioneer of digital light projection (DLP) 3D printers. With the largest market share of DLP systems, EnvisionTEC certainly has territory to maintain in the industry, even as the firm broadens its technology portfolio to include composite 3D printing and sand core additive manufacturing.
Formlabs has already suffered one lawsuit from another 3D printing giant, 3D Systems, which began a suit in 2012 when Formlabs attempted to drop the cost of SLA 3D printing far below what 3D Systems previously offered. The suit was eventually settled with Formlabs paying out royalties to the larger company with every sale of its SLA machines, now in their second generation with the Form 2 3D printer.
As Formlabs attempts to grow well beyond the US border, bringing low-cost SLA to Europe and Asia, it would seem that it is experiencing a bit of bullying by larger firms. Such defensive tactics may feel necessary for companies like EnvisionTEC as the 3D printing industry becomes absorbed by the larger manufacturing space.