'The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology'
Abstract
Presently the implications Additive Manufacturing (AM) on intellectual properties are
discussed in public. Here AM is often mentioned as a driver for product piracy as it allows to
produce and to copy objects with any geometries. Imitators need a lot of information to copy
an object accurately. As reverse engineering has been identified as the most important
information source for product imitators, AM can also help to reduce the threat of product
piracy when correctly applied in the product development. Due to the layer wise production
process that allows the manufacturing of very complex shapes and geometries, the reverse-engineering process can be complicated by far. By this, quite contrary to the public opinion,
AM can increase the needed effort of imitators and strongly reduce the economic efficiency of
product piracy. This paper will show different protection measures and a methodological
approach of how to apply these measures to a product. Beside the protective effect some
measures allow a traceability of parts over the product’s lifecycle and thus support the quality
management of AM processes and additively produced parts.Mechanical Engineerin
