Abstract
!
This!dissertation!was!written!as!part!of!the!MA!in!Ar
t,!Law!and!Economy!at!the!
Inter
national!Hellenic!University.!
!
3D!printing!nowadays!bear
s!a!resemblance!to!the!personal!computer!revol
uO
tion,! main
ly! due! to! its! quite! affordable! home! versions! compared! to! the! technology!
used.! That! encompasses! the! link! between! copyright! and! digital! rights,! which! began!
concerning!the!legal!community!initially!as!r
egards!movies,!music!and!photos.!The!o
nO
going!devel
opment!of!3D!printing!technologies!and!services!radically!affects!intellect
uO
al!property!rights!worldwide,!regardless!of!local!legal!regimes.!
!
3D!printing!is!a!hot!topic,!especially!considering!that!the!rece
nt!developments!
in!the!related!technology!have!enabled!the!printing!of!physical!objects!by!consumers,!
which!may!easily!lead!to!mass
O
production.!Of!course,!such!hypothetic!developments!
do!also!involve!infringements!in!almost!all!types!of!IPRs.
!
This! paper! ex
plores! the! most! interesting! parts! of! the! Intellectual! Property!
frameworks!in!the!EU,!UK!and!US!as!regards!the!use!of!3D!printing!technology;!it!fu
rO
ther!examines!various!issues!that!concern!such!use!and!finally!concludes!with!some
!
recommenda
tions,! such! as! f
or! instance! the! need! for! introducing! different! business!
models.
Collections
Show Collections