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18 September 2015Trademarks

Marques 2015: Brands need to ‘wake up’ to 3D printing threat

Brand owners need to wake up to the threat posed by 3D printing, it has been claimed.

Ernst-Jan Louwers, head of Louwers IP, told delegates at the Marques 29th Annual Conference in Vienna today, September 18, that it is “wake up and shake up time” for brand owners with regard to potential infringements that may arise from 3D printing.

Louwers said there is a “paradigm shift” occurring, whereby consumers are turning into producers, or “prosumers” as he described it.

Although Louwers said existing EU and national laws should be able to deal with the phenomenon, he raised the question of whether online platforms including 3D printing service, 3D Hubs, and marketplace Shapeways should be held liable in infringement cases.

Giordano Cardini, intellectual property manager at confectionery company Ferrero, said 3D printing is a “concern” but added that he doesn’t believe 3D printed products will compete with Ferrero’s products, which include Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

Hande Hançer, partner at law firm Mehmet Gün & Partners, said that applying for 3D trademarks has also become increasingly popular in the last couple of years.

She said that the Turkish Patent Institute had a tendency in the past to refuse such marks but that its attitude has changed in the past couple of years to a “more pro 3D trademark approach”.

The Marques Annual Conference ends today, September 18.

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