3D printing (or, more correctly, additive manufacturing) is the general term for those software-driven technologies that create physical objects by successive layering of materials. Due to recent advances in the quality of objects produced and to lower processing costs, the increasing dispersion and availability of these technologies have major implications not only for manufacturers and distributors but also for users and consumers, raising unprecedented challenges for intellectual property protection and enforcement. This is the first and only book to discuss 3D printing technology from a multidisciplinary perspective that encompasses law, economics, engineering, technology, and policy. Originating in a collaborative study spearheaded by the Hanken School of Economics, the Aalto University and the University of Helsinki in Finland and engaging an international consortium of legal, design and production engineering experts, with substantial contributions from industrial partners, the book fully exposes and examines the fundamental questions related to the nexus of intellectual property law, emerging technologies, 3D printing, business innovation, and policy issues. Twenty-five legal, technical, and business experts contribute sixteen peer-reviewed chapters, each focusing on a specific area, that collectively evaluate the tensions created by 3D printing technology in the context of the global economy. The topics covered include: • current and future business models for 3D printing applications; • intellectual property rights in 3D printing; • essential patents and technical standards in additive manufacturing; • patent and bioprinting; • private use and 3D printing; • copyright licences on the user-generated content (UGC) in 3D printing; • copyright implications of 3D scanning; and • non-traditional trademark infringement in the 3D printing context. Specific industrial applications – including aeronautics, automotive industries, construction equipment, toy and jewellery making, medical devices, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine – are all touched upon in the course of analyses. In a legal context, the central focus is on the technology’s implications for US and European intellectual property law, anchored in a comparison of relevant laws and cases in several legal systems. This work is a matchless resource for patent, copyright, and trademark attorneys and other corporate counsel, innovation economists, industrial designers and engineers, and academics and policymakers concerned with this complex topic.

"Educational needs of practicing lawyers are explored with a practical guide provided. Details the legal ecosystem and how its complex, varied and often overlapping parts can and should be handled by practicing attorneys, alternative legal service providers and "non-legal" professionals"--

This Handbook provides breakthrough analyses on an important, cutting-edge topic: the connections between the legal system, both in substance and process, and innovation and growth. Arguably the most important intellectual development in legal scholarship and judicial decision-making over the past four decades has been the increasing use of economic modes of analysis in legal reasoning. The Handbook on Law, Innovation and Growth sheds new light on the linkages between innovation, growth and the legal system, answering questions that will help policymakers better understand and implement the law in an effort to advance economic welfare. This Handbook brings together many prominent scholars to examine the features of the legal infrastructure that affect both innovation and growth. Individual chapters explore different legal subject areas, in most cases offering recommendations for rule changes that could accelerate growth, primarily in the context of the US economy. The introductory chapter cohesively ties all of the contributions together and explains why it is time for legal scholarship and research to move in a new direction. Surpassing other literature on the subject, this landmark Handbook is certainly a critical volume for any student or scholar of law and economics.

Business Innovation and the Law analyses the topical issue of protecting and promoting business research and development. It does so by examining business innovation through the lens of different legal disciplines Ð intellectual property, labour and employment laws, competition and corporate laws. Evaluating the impact of each of these areas using discipline-specific and industry perspectives, the book also explores questions about whether a more harmonized approach is necessary to provide appropriate protection. Approaches of the common law and civil jurisdictions, particularly the European Union, inform and provide guidance to the analysis of emerging issues in this field. This book provides insights into various approaches taken by both common law and civil law jurisdictions regarding the increasingly blurred line of ownership rights in innovative industries. It traverses various disciplines of law as well as jurisdictions. Using interdisciplinary perspectives to business innovation and inter-jurisdictional comparisons and analysis, this book will appeal to university administrators responsible for intellectual property policy, managers of technology transfer offices in universities, intellectual property lawyers, labour and employment lawyers and competition lawyers.

The legal sector is being hit by profound economic and technological changes (digitalization, open data, blockchain, artificial intelligence ...) forcing law firms and legal departments to become ever more creative in order to demonstrate their added value. To help lawyers meet this challenge, this book draws on the perspectives of lawyers and creative specialists to analyze the concept and life cycle of legal innovations, techniques and services, whether related to legislation, legal engineering, legal services, or legal strategies, as well as the role of law as a source of creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The book provides a critical overview of innovation policy in Europe and a synopsis of the current institutional framework of Europe shaped after the Europe2020 strategy and in view of the upcoming Horizon2020 agenda. What emerges is a rather gloomy outlook for the future of Europe's innovation, unless EU institutions and Member States will decide to streamline existing policies and build a "layered" model of innovation, in which governments act as investors in key enabling infrastructure such as ICT and education; as enablers of large technology markets where researchers and entrepreneurs can meet; and as purchasers of innovation when key societal challenges are at stake. The book contains proposals for the future innovation strategy of the EU and a specific analysis of areas such as the unitary patent, the transfer of technology (particularly as far as climate-related technologies and IP markets are concerned), standardization, and the digital agenda.

This authoritative volume includes a selection of seminal articles published in the emerging field of technological progress and innovation. The first part of the book is dedicated to the economics of innovation, while the following parts include important papers in various legal areas that focus on innovation. The legal fields covered by the collection include intellectual property, torts, competition law and regulation. Along with an original introduction by Professor Salzberger, this comprehensive book will be useful to researchers, students and legal practitioners who are interested in innovation and is a must in any research library.