patents

Stratasys Sues Afinia: Ramifications for the Desktop 3D Printing Industry

Stratasys Sues Afinia: Ramifications for the Desktop 3D Printing Industry

Michael Weinberg

By Michael Weinberg

Michael Weinberg

In his spare time, Michael is the President of the Board of the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) and the General Counsel of Shapeways. Despite that, nothing in this article is OSHWA’s or Shapeways’ fault, and it certainly isn’t legal advice. You can find Michael online @MWeinberg2D and at michaelweinberg.org.

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Earlier this week Stratasys, a longtime fixture in the commercial/industrial 3D printing world and recent purchaser of desktop printer company Makerbot, announced that it was filing a patent infringement lawsuit against Microboards Technology, LLC, the company behind the Afinia H-Series 3D printer. This lawsuit is a big deal that could have huge ramifications for the entire desktop 3D printing industry. Afinia is a well known 3D printing brand which was named “best overall experience” in MAKE’s inaugural 3D printing buyer’s guide last year. It is also widely available from mainstream outlets such as Radio Shack

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Make: Inventions “The Safety Elevator”

Make: Inventions “The Safety Elevator”

By Steve Hoefer

Steve Hoefer

Steve Hoefer is a creative swashbuckler, freelance writer and inventor. He regularly contributes projects to the pages of MAKE and his inventions have appeared internationally on TV, radio, and print. He lives on his family farm in Iowa.

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In this Make: Inventions, Steve builds an elevator and reenacts the death-defying stunt that Elisha Otis performed at the 1854 World’s Fair.

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Make: Inventions “Etch A Sketch”

Make: Inventions “Etch A Sketch”

By Stett Holbrook

Stett Holbrook

Stett Holbrook is editor of the Bohemian, an alternative weekly in Santa Rosa, California. He is a former senior editor at Maker Media.

He is also the co-creator of Food Forward, a documentary TV series for PBS about the innovators and pioneers changing our food system.

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In his first episode of Make: Inventions, Steve Hoefer takes a look at the Etch A Sketch, the enduring kids toy invented by Andre Cassagnes

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First to File? Nah, First to Blog!

First to File? Nah, First to Blog!

Zach "Hoeken" Smith

By Zach "Hoeken" Smith

Zach "Hoeken" Smith

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Like most people out there, I sometimes have more ideas than time to implement them. So instead of keeping those ideas locked in a notebook somewhere unaccessible and not serving a purpose, I’m going to release them into the world as public domain in the hope that they might inspire, or at a very minimum keep an idea from being patented. You can do whatever you like with these, except for attempting to patent them yourself. It is my sincere hope that by releasing these ideas, more awesomeness and excellence will be brought into being.

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Screw-in coffin patent issues

Screw-in coffin patent issues

By Sean Michael Ragan

Sean Michael Ragan

I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't – Magazin für Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

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This is a choice selection of images from the application for U.S. patent 7,631,404, which has since issued to Donald Scruggs of Chino, CA. The title is “Easy inter burial container.” [via Neatorama]

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Google files patent on Streetview billboard ad replacer

Google files patent on Streetview billboard ad replacer

By Sean Michael Ragan

Sean Michael Ragan

I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't – Magazin für Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

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Google has just filed a patent application for a method to automagically detect billboards in Streetview-type imagery and replace them in real time with Google’s own dynamically-generated ads. It’s just a patent application at this point, so there’s no way of knowing if it’s actually going to happen yet. Still, an interesting idea. [via Gizmodo]

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