"I believe this patent has great potential and will play an important role in stimulating the development of 3D technology,” Professor Hing Kai Chan commented in a recent press release. “Getting a patent is the first step.”

It’s a step that has taken Professor Chan, and his colleagues at University of Nottingham Ningbo China, three years. The Ningbo campus is one of two overseas branches of the University of Nottingham and has faculties of businesses, humanities and social sciences, and science and engineering.

Inside the latter, Professor Chan, while cooperating with the Law Schools of the University of Exeter, Durham University and the University of Sussex in the UK, recently filed a patent for a ‘digital watermarking method for 3D printing models’ that tracks and protects intellectual property (IP). Prior to the filing of this patent, Professor Chan believes it has been all too easy to pilfer the IP from a 3D printing model.

“The main challenge is the digital nature of the source CAD files,” he told TCT. “The files can be encrypted, but not the printed objects. Therefore, it is a matter of computational time for someone who possess the files to unlock the encrypted contents and then produce the products, illegally.”

While typically the anti-counterfeiting of a 3D printing model has been achieved by embedding a digital watermark into an STL file, Professor Chan, and the additive manufacturing vendors and users he interviewed during his research, had concerns over the efficacy of these watermarks and the subsequent impact on adoption and application. The alternative invented by Professor Chan and his team is an algorithm that transforms the ‘3D spatial matrix similarity problem’ into a ‘2D image matching problem’, remaining almost invisible to the naked eye so as not to affect the appearance of the part, but unlikely to be lost during the design and additive manufacture of the part. It enables the tracing of item-level information, including the 3D printing platform used and the individual responsible for the design, to protect IP rights.

“The patented algorithm adds a watermark on physical printed objects, so the digital files will be altered every time a new digital file is needed, for each batch of production, for a new buyer, etc.,” explained Professor Chan. “The watermark can be changed - in theory - for each printed object. Via a proper licensing mechanism, the designer keeps the original design and sends the “watermarked files” to the buyers accordingly. Therefore, we can trace the source of the files. Reverse engineering cannot tackle this protection scheme. In addition, this concept provides companies who are willing to pay the licence fee with a channel to recognise IP issues.”

Professor Chan was motivated to invent a new solution for IP protection within 3D printing because of the regularity within which IP is stolen and because, when it does happen, it is ‘difficult, if not impossible’ to trace the source of infringement. He believes this adds significant risk to the adoption of 3D printing which, with his background in industrial engineering, he assesses has the capability to optimise production and operation processes.

“3D Printing is a typical example of such innovative production process that could bring business operations to a better level” he offered. “That said, if this is compromised by IP issues, companies may not be able to gain the intended benefits brought out by the technology itself, due to poor diffusion. [And] without mass applications, the technology will not be fully utilised.”

To provide a contribution to help the potential of 3D printing to be fully utilised, Professor Chan is now in the process of applying for funding to develop a licensing platform to take the patented technology into the commercial space. As with 3D printing, Professor Chan believes his invention holds a lot of potential, but he also recognises more can be done to protect IP rights.

“The 3D printing equipment designers and manufacturers play an important role in this protection,” finished Professor Chan. “For example, the patented concept can also be implemented via their printers. They are actually the direct actors who help convert the digital files to physical objects. If they are taking part in this, it will be easier for other researchers to develop IP protection schemes like ours.”

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