Canadian STL IP Infringement Case Gets Settled out of Cour...

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3dprintler.com

Canadian STL IP Infringement

Case Gets Settled out of Court
May 21, 2014 5 min read original

3D Printing News Canadas First STL IP Infringement Case Gets

Settled out of Court

Intellectual property (IP) infringements have always been a tricky thing

to handle in any business and industry. However, as 3D printing becomes
more and more popular, this problem is taken to a whole new level.
Basically, a growing number of 3D-printing counterfeiters, or 3D
pirates, have been stealing STL (3D design) files and reproducing these
objects for monetary gain. And its easy to see how, as no official
regulatory system has been put in place to stop them from doing so.
Since STL files are digital, then Napster-like distribution is almost
impossible to prevent. Once an STL file is shared online, it can be shared
across the web in a multitude of ways.
In the past decade, the movie and music industries have fought a similar
battle against illegal sharing of their content. The same is about to
happen to 3D files.
Recently, here at 3Dprintler, weve experienced this theft of IP ourselves.
Here is our story on how one of Canadas first STL file IP infringement
cases got settled rather agreeably, outside of court.

Listing STL files online and the risk of IP infringement

My tinkering with 3D printing and 3D scanning began in late 2013. I spent
many long nights learning how to use 3D software like SketchUp and
SolidWorks to create various 3D designs. Many of the resulting creations
I later published on Thingiverse under the username BustMold.

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Original upgrade published by BustMold

Some of my first 3D designs were upgrade parts for a DJI Phantom

quadcopter (a remote-controlled helicopter, and they soon became very
popular on Thingiverse. This success inspired me to turn my hobby into a
business, and thus, 3Dprintler was born as a 3D print shop and
consulting agency.

Several months later, it came to my attention that my original 3D designs

were being resold as physical objects by R/C hobby stores such as
CanadaDrones.com.

CanadaDrones.com resells the upgrade for $34

Outraged, I wanted to stand up for my intellectual property and the rights

of designers everywhere, so I decided to sue these 3D-printing pirates.

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The case against 3D-printing pirates

When I contacted Dany Thivierge, the owner of CanadaDrones.com, I

was surprised at how cooperative he was. He explained to me how he had

acquired the files (via Kevin Scanlan, Sales Manager of
Mississauga-based company, Anubis 3D).

Apparently, Scanlan had assured Thivierge that Anubis was working

directly with the designer of these parts.

Communication with Dany Thivierge where he admits buying upgrade from Anubis Corp.

With this information, I decided to file a court case against Scanlan (the
person responsible for selling counterfeited 3D-printed parts);

Thivierge (the person buying the parts from Anubis and reselling them

on his online R/C hobby store); and Anubis Manufacturing Consultant

Corporation.

Here is a brief from the Plaintiff s Form with Superior Court of Justice:
Claim# 14-SC-130407 submitted March 13, 2014.
3Dprintler Inc. vs. Anubis Manufacturing Consultants Corporation;
Kevin Scanlan; Dany Thivierge

On June 5, 2013, Michael Golubev published his upgrade for an aerial r/c
drone under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
Use on Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:99048), a
free website for sharing 3D models.

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Anubiscorp, a 3D-printing company located in Mississauga, Ontario, is

now engaging in a practice of acquiring these free 3D files (STLs) from
the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Use on
Thingiverse and selling them to r/c stores and individuals alike for
monetary gain, thus breaking the licence use and infringing on the
intellectual property of the original owners.
A number of Mr. Golubevs 3D models, all of which are listed on
Thingiverse, were sold by Kevin Scanlan from Anubiscorp to a number of
r/c stores, including CanadaDrones.comowned by Danny Thivierge. Mr.
Thivierge was cooperative and explained that he received the parts from
Anubiscorp and that the company claimed to be the original designer of
the files.
Mr. Golubev is now seeking damages accrued as a result of the IP
infringement of his 3D models. He would like to highlight the fact that his
designs were explicitly listed under the non-commercial use section of
Thingiverse, and so, their sale by Anubiscorp is clearly illegal, not to
mention unethical.
3D printing is an emerging technology that is changing business models
all around the world, but we have to stand up for the intellectual property
and rights of the designers.
After all the paperwork was filed at the courthouse, the next step was to
serve the papers to all the defendants (Scanlan, Thivierge and Anubis)
and wait for further developments.

Terms of Settlement
It didnt take long for Beth Spratt, Barrister and Solicitor from J. Paul

Bannon firm, acting on behalf of Anubis Manufacturing Consultants

Corp., to contact me directly. We had a few conversations over the phone

and came to a mutual understanding and agreement.

In the end, I have big appreciation for the way Anubis reacted and
approached me in an attempt to resolve the issue. Here is the settlement
we agreed to, with the following conditions:
1. Anubis Manufacturing Consultants Corp. will mail a Certified
Cheque for $117.00 (which relates to $100 spent for initial court

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costs, and $17 being the price of the aerial drone) to 3Dprintler Inc.
2. Anubis Manufacturing Consultants Corp. will mail a letter of apology
to 3Dprintler Inc. by April 9, 2014 apologizing for the incident of
having sold an upgrade for aerial drone which was listed on
Thingivese under non commercial license
3. Anubis Manufacturing Consultants Corp. will mail a letter to
3Dprintler Inc. by April 9, 2014, confirming that Kevin Scanlan was
terminated from his employment at Anubis.
Although we didnt receive the settlement paperwork until after April 9,
everything came through so I didnt make a big deal out of it.
1. Cheque for $117. I will keep it in a frame as a memory of the victory

Certified cheque from Anubis Corp.

2. Anubus Manufacturing Consultants Corp. Managing Director Tharwat

M.M. Fouad-Fahmi signed the following letter:
RE: Incident
With this note would like to fully apologize for the incident of having sold
an upgrade for aerial drone which was listed on Thingiverse under
non-commercial license. I personally was not aware of the close
resemblance with your design. I would like to re-assure you that this
mistake will not happen again. Should you have any further questions or
concerns please do not hesitate to contact me directly. Regards Tharwat
M.M. Fouad-Fahmi, BSc.Mech. Eng. Managing Director Anubis
Manufacturing Consultants Corp.
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Anubis Corp. official letter of apology

3. Anubis Corp terminated Sales Manager Kevin Scanlan, a person

responsible for the sale of counterfeited stl file. Anubis sent the following
letter signed by Tharwat M.M. Fouad-Fahmi, Managing Director of
Anubis Manufacturing Consultants Corp.
To whom it may concern:
RE: Kevin Scanlan
This note is to confirm that Mr. Kevin Scanlan is no longer an Employee
of Anubis Manufacturing Consultants Corporation, Kevins
employement with Anubis was terminated. Should you have any further
questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Regards, Tharwat M.M. Fouad-Fahmi, BSc.Mech Eng. Managing Director
Anubis Manufacturing Consultants Corp.

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Kevin Scanlan is fired

What weve learned about IP infringement & 3D printing

In the end, all this is to say that intellectual property (IP) infringement
cases will become more and more common, even inevitable, in the years
to come.
Luckily, companies like Authentise and Secured3D are well on their

way to creating possible solutions to this massive digital copyright issue.

And needless to say, we here at 3Dprintler are excited to implement them
on our website and other platforms and apps in the near future.
Until then, the 3Dprintler v.s. Anubis Corp; Kevin Scanlan, Dany
Thivierge case can serve as the precedent and foundation for future
digital IP infringement cases. Designers, creators, tinkerers and geeks
everywhere should feel empowered to stand up to illegal distribution of
their content whenever possible.
Our case is one of the first. Lets all learn from it, so please share your
thoughts and opinions.
If youre interested in viewing the entire Plaintiffs Claim #14-SC-

130407 and Terms of Settlement #14-SC-130407, please contact us at

info@3Dprintler.com.

Posted by Michael G. in Uncategorized

Original URL:

https://www.3dprintler.com/blog/2014/05/21/3d-printing-news-canadian-stl-ipinfringement-lawsuit-gets-settled-court/#more-1830

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