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48 A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m development process for mass production toys. Being able to digitally revise and print a product in a few days is extremely helpful. It used to take three to four weeks. . . ." Sze-Mei Yeung, chairman of the IP prac- tice group at Vancouver's Richards Buell Sutton, says she has not yet seen great interest in the technology but that is likely to change. "Our clients are still trying to understand 3D printing and how it will impact their businesses. Currently, we have not experienced any significant increase in trademark or industrial design applica- tions or filings from clients as a result of 3D printing. That being said, we would expect that the technology will likely result in an increase in infringement of various intellec- tual property rights, particularly if it is used to create commercial products." In May, L'Oreal USA entered into a research partnership with a bio-printing company to develop 3D printed skin. Late last year, Hasbro partnered with Wal-Mart to allow its action figures to be custom 3D printed at select stores. Yet not everyone is as enthusiastic. When the popular online retailer of 3D goods and services, Shape- ways, tried to sell a version of Katy Perry's infamous "Left Shark" dancer from her Super Bowl performance, the pop singer's lawyers fired off an angry letter. Whether or not the mascot-like shark can be copy- right protected is debatable, but the speed at which the letter was sent hints that the music industry may be tired of having its property "copied" without permission. As of late June, not only is Left Shark still for sale on Shapeways, but so is Left Shark Lawyer and Come at Me Bro Shark. Yeung says many useful and functional consumer products would not be generally protected by copyright. "There are exemp- tions for personal use that may limit the protection of objects from 3D printing, provided that the original work is not an infringing copy, the person obtained it legally, and the copy is not given away. With this in mind, clients need to determine whether they are able to protect their goods from the potentially infringing impact of 3D printing technology via a three-dimen- sional trademark and/or registration of an industrial design, which protects the aes- thetic features of useful objects." Mosley advises her clients to be careful if they believe their IP has been infringed. These days, feedback from the public is instant and what may have started as a small problem could become a large one if the alleged infringer goes online and complains. This is the kind of publicity most companies dread. "Nowadays, this is one of the first considerations for clients," she says. "If we are aggressive right off the top, all it takes is one person to put something on Twitter and suddenly you have a problem with the media. If you can resolve matters quietly and privately, you should. In some cases, the 3D product is so clever, the company may want to partner with these people." Mosely says there are many things to consider. It's one thing if the person has made a copy of your product and sent it all over the world, but if it's a commu- nity group and only four copies have been made, it's different. "You have to ask many questions," says Mosley. "Is the problem growing? Will it be over soon? Is it a valu- able market? If you have people copying your toys right before Christmas, there is no way to regain those sales." Ultimately, the Our bite is even worse than our roar. We are accomplished trial lawyers with years of study in science and engineering and we have the courtroom successes to prove it. It's treacherous out there, so if your client's IP is threatened – talk to us. Editors of the Canadian Patent Reporter it all starts somewhere www.ridoutmaybee.com Client's IP at Risk? RM ad Lion Apr.1.indd 1 4/27/10 9:16:04 AM Ridout_CL_July_10.indd 1 6/17/10 3:10:05 PM Untitled-3 1 13-12-09 7:10 PM L E G A L R E P O RT \ I N T E L L E C T U A L P R O P E RT Y

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