Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.
Oh to be on that jury!
Posted on 03/17/2020 5:05:42 PM PDT by TigerClaws
A medical device manufacturer has threatened to sue a group of volunteers in Italy that 3D printed a valve used for life-saving coronavirus treatments. The valve typically costs about $11,000 from the medical device manufacturer, but the volunteers were able to print replicas for about $1 (via Techdirt).
A hospital in Italy was in need of the valves after running out while treating patients for COVID-19. The hospital’s usual supplier said they could not make the valves in time to treat the patients, according to Metro. That launched a search for a way to 3D print a replica part, and Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Ramaioli, who work at Italian startup Isinnova, offered their company’s printer for the job, reports Business Insider.
However, when the pair asked the manufacturer of the valves for blueprints they could use to print replicas, the company declined and threatened to sue for patent infringement, according to Business Insider Italia. Fracassi and Ramaioli moved ahead anyway by measuring the valves and 3D printing three different versions of them.
The new coronavirus is spreading through the US, and several states have made emergency declarations. The World Health Organization has declared it a pandemic. Here are the basics: Everything you need to know about the coronavirus
So far, the valves they made have worked on 10 patients as of March 14th, according to Massimo Temporelli, the founder of Italian manufacturing solutions company FabLab who helped recruit Fracassi and Ramaioli to print the replica valves.
“[The patients] were people in danger of life, and we acted. Period,” said Fracassi in a Facebook post. He also said that “we have no intention of profit on this situation, we are not going to use the designs or product beyond the strict need for us forced to act, we are not going to spread the drawing.”
Patents are as meaningless as publishing copyrights these days.
The manufacturers' lawyers will have to flee for their lives.
Screw 'em. Send them to Qom or Wuhan.
Only if they want to be politically curb stomped by the entire world.
But can be 3D printed for $1 and people are dying and the manufacturer can't supply replacements. Can we just go out an shoot these profiteers - and yes I understand about protecting their investment in design, manufacture, test, licensing, etc.
There are reasons why both sides present their case to the jury ...
grey_whiskers wrote:
Give the President 20 sec of air time on this, or one Tweet.
The manufacturers’ lawyers will have to flee for their lives.
Screw ‘em. Send them to Qom or Wuhan.”
Ping to article; needs to get to President Trump, so he can tweetstorm the medical device companies about it.
Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.
Oh to be on that jury!
Yep, the manufacturer is likely to be awarded the magnificent sum of $1.
Cant you only be sued for patent infringement if you profit from it? What if the hospital simply doesn’t charge the patient the $1 it costs to make the valve?
If it can be easily copied and “printed” for a $1, why was it $11,000 in the first place?
I understand research and development, and of course profits etc but $11,000 seems excessive for something that some nerd with a 3d printer could just make in a few minutes.
And he didn’t even have the designs, he made his own.
If the company wanted to look like hero instead of a zero, they should have gave them the design with a license to replicate for this purpose only and the designs must be turned back over the manufacturer when the crisis is over and all designs/copies/valves to be destroyed once the crisis is over. Have them sign a license contract and look like a hero out of this. Plus the company retains all rights.
Instead they went the dick route and that is never good with Internet/fakebook/twatter these days
If the 3-D maker didn’t sell them, I don’t think they can sue. I think it is called fair use.
They extended the length of intellectual property rights to the point where the public support for them on which their existence depends is snapping.
Every aspect of human society has a threshold of lawyer tolerance which will cause it to collapse if reached.
What’s likely to happen is that one of the replicas will fail but the original manufacturer will be the one sued for big bucks.
I’ll say! Sue ‘em, for $1.00. That’ll teachem.
$11,000 for a valve that can be 3D printed for a few dollars is criminal. Nobody Is going to care that a country ran around such a company during a pandemic that has killed over 2,000 Italians and has another 2,000 in serious condition with more on the way.
Sounds good to me. I needed an adaptor for my Craftsman wet/dry vacuum hose. Couldn't find them at Sears or elsewhere. Sears probably charged a fortune for it, if they had it. I found a file online, downloaded it and printed my own adaptor. Has worked great for the last few years, and I'm not in business to make and sell copies.
Congrats to these hospital volunteers for quick-thinking. Boo to the medical company.
“What’s likely to happen is that one of the replicas will fail but the original manufacturer will be the one sued for big bucks.”
Don’t think it works that way, they didn’t make it so they cannot be sued.
Well, that's the way it SHOULD work, but I still wouldn't be surprised.
I am sure y9u have access to all the facts ...
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