3D printer maker Bambu Lab faces patent infringement lawsuits that could threaten hobbyist 3D printing in general
An OG in 3D printing is taking on a new, but highly successful, upstart in the industry
Bambu Lab, one of the fastest-growing manufacturers of consumer-grade 3D printers, is facing two patent infringement lawsuits in the U.S. Stratasys, a leading name in industrial 3D printing technology since 1988, filed the lawsuits on Aug. 8 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division.
Both lawsuits accuse Bambu Lab of infringing on patents held by Stratasys. Stratasys names six companies associated with the umbrella Bambu Lab name, demanding a jury trial for the cases. If Stratasys is able to defend the patents in question successfully, it could lead to a major disruption to the consumer 3D printing industry.
In total, the two lawsuits (Civil Action No. 2:24-cv-644 and Civil Action No. 2:24-cv-00645) concern 10 patents Stratasys owns. Two of the patents were originally owned by MakerBot, but Stratasys acquired all of that company’s assets in 2013. It later merged the subsidiary with Utilimaker in 2022, but retained ownership of the patents.
The first lawsuit, cv-644 (PDF), alleges Bambu Lab has infringed upon the following patents:
- US9421713B2 - Additive manufacturing method for printing three-dimensional parts with purge towers
- US9592660B2 - Heated build platform and system for three-dimensional printing methods
- US7555357B2 - Method for building three-dimensional objects with extrusion-based layered deposition systems
- US9168698B2 - Three-dimensional printer with force detection
- US10556381B2 - Three-dimensional printer with force detection
All of these patents, if Stratasys wins the case, could prove highly disruptive for the consumer 3D printing industry. Two of them are of particular interest, however. Patent number 1 listed above refers to purge towers used by Stratasys, Bambu Lab, and others when automatically changing from one filament to another during a print.
Bambu Lab in particular uses this to allow easy multicolor 3D printing; the printer stops mid-print, retracts the filament currently in use, and then feeds the next needed filament to continue the build. To prevent the previously used filament from bleeding into the new, the printer lays out a purge tower before continuing the build.
Of broader impact to just about any consumer-priced 3D printer is patent number 2 listed above, the heated build platform. For the 3D printer to successfully print a model, the build plate is almost always heated to ensure the first layers remain in place.
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To be frank, I’m not aware of a single 3D printer in production today that doesn’t incorporate a heated build surface. Yes, there are other ways of ensuring bed adhesion, but those inevitably threaten the integrity of the model when you try removing it from the build plate.
The other three patents cited refer to methods of forming the three-dimensional object and using sensors to calibrate the extruder for accurate operation.
In the second lawsuit, cv-645 (PDF), Stratasys accuses Bambu Lab of infringing on five additional patents. These are generally more matters of convenience, concerning wireless communication with the 3D printer and using RFID tags to help the 3D printer know what filament is installed.
- US10569466B2 - Tagged build material for three-dimensional printing
- US11167464B2 - Same as above
- US8747097B2 - Networked three-dimensional printer with three-dimensional scanner
- US11886774B2 - Detection and use of printer configuration information
- US8562324B2 - Networked three-dimensional printing.
The lawsuits were only recently filed, and Bambu Lab says it has yet to receive official documents from the court concerning the case. Tom’s Hardware has reached out to Bambu Lab for further comment and will update you with any response received.
Jeff Butts has been covering tech news for more than a decade, and his IT experience predates the internet. Yes, he remembers when 9600 baud was “fast.” He especially enjoys covering DIY and Maker topics, along with anything on the bleeding edge of technology.
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Aaron Priest They always come from a small town in East Texas. Austin Meyer of X-Plane was sued by a patent troll for simply putting an app in the Google App Store for Androids. Someone owns a patent on using app stores essentially, and they sue people that use them, not the companies like Apple or Google or Microsoft that make the stores. He got fed up enough that he made a movie about patent trolls and how huge a problem it has become for business owners. Most of the patent trolls are just empty shell companies owned by lawyers that have never invented a thing. It's well worth watching. You can watch it on YouTube here: iN9ASmBMT6EView: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN9ASmBMT6EReply -
HalKatz Is patent law like trademark law? If they haven't been enforcing these patents for a long time, does that undermine their case?Reply -
USAFRet Reply
No.HalKatz said:Is patent law like trademark law? If they haven't been enforcing these patents for a long time, does that undermine their case?
Patent law is very much unlike trademark law.
As an owner of a Bambu X1C, I am very interested in how this shakes out. -
purposelycryptic The heated bed patent is kind of ridiculous - now, if they had patented a specific unique, non-obvious implementation of heating the bed, that could be worthy of a patent. But just heated beds in general? That is both insanely overbroad, and incredibly obvious.Reply
Patent law in the US really is just a total mess, and has been for decades. It's actively stifling innovation and blocking new players from joining their industries (or getting almost immediately bought out, along with their patents). Pretty much the exact opposite of what it was created for.
Just one of (many) things desperately in need of a complete teardown and rebuild... -
USAFRet Reply
Many of those things mentioned are 'obvious'.purposelycryptic said:The heated bed patent is kind of ridiculous - now, if they had patented a specific unique, non-obvious implementation of heating the bed, that could be worthy of a patent. But just heated beds in general? That is both insanely overbroad, and incredibly obvious.
Basically, this is a case of "Throw a bunch of stuff at the wall, and see what might stick". -
jasonhartsoe You realize this isn’t new right? There’s even an old documentary on this. Stratasys has been suing 3D manufactures for a few decades now. First with makerbot (which they ended up buying), then with formlabs (ended up licensing)….since then they’ve been suing others who kept quiet through NDA’s. So this isn’t a first for them. Stratasys’s stock is plummeting and the old man is greedy and cares only about his money rather than the future of the tech and community. They’re losing hundreds of thousands on an outdated machine when you can buy bambu’s for a few thousand with much better tech. He didn’t even create these patents, he bought them. Just an old greedy man with a few years of life left trying to take from others. If bambu just drags it out long enough, it might fix itself. They need to stand up to this patent troll and put a stop to those who cause harm to the future of tech. The courts should block or void every patent and patent troll that hinders the advancement of science, technology, and the betterment of the human race.Reply -
gwyncwn Just need to add this.Reply
the heated build area. It is build area not bed. And according to google patents it is expired for a lifetime.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US6722872B1/en -
panda1971 creailty, anycubic, prusa all use the same as bambu labReply
US9421713B2 - Additive manufacturing method for printing three-dimensional parts with purge towers
US9592660B2 - Heated build platform and system for three-dimensional printing methods
US7555357B2 - Method for building three-dimensional objects with extrusion-based layered deposition systems
US9168698B2 - Three-dimensional printer with force detection
US10556381B2 - Three-dimensional printer with force detectionthis company taking a lawsuit out on bmbulab is stupid there are other 3 company use every one of these creailty k2 plus is basically a bambu lab i do not think that this us company wants to fight another 3 company's at once creailty will rip them apart i have a bambu lab printer the bambu lab community is big they will fight back there over 50 million people with bambu lab printers now they are picking a fight with the wrong people the company need sit down at a table and talk to each other and come together as one so everyone agrees not do a lawsuit talk they will have backlash in the end.