3D printing boom expected in 2014: patents for laser sintering technology expire

In February 2014, patents for the selective laser sintering technology (selective laser sintering, SLS), which was invented in the 80s and is now used in industrial 3D printers, expire. The existence of these patents significantly limits competition in the market and does not allow for the mass production of cheap 3D printers of this type.

After the expiration of patents, you can expect an influx of cheap Chinese 3D printers and a very serious drop in prices for these devices, says Duann Scott, an evangelist at Shapeways, which is engaged in printing models on 3D printers as ordered by designers, architects and others customers who cannot afford to buy a professional-level device.

This opinion has a good reason. When patents for a more primitive 3D printing technology using fused deposition modeling (FDM) expired, this led to the emergence of many Open Source printer models and a sharp drop in prices. Among them is the famous Makerbot.
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^{Desktop Printer Replicator 2 from Makerbot Industries}

Recently, this company was bought by a giant in the 3D printing market, Stratasys, for $ 400 million. Curiously, the founder of Stratasys is Scott Crump, the inventor of FDM technology.

Just a couple of years after the termination of the FDM patents, the cost of such printers dropped from several thousand dollars to just $ 200, that is, ten times.


^{Model A6 LT worth $ 200}

A real revolution and the “democratization” of 3D printing took place on the market. There were hundreds (!) Of different models. Anyone can now buy a desktop FDM printer.

Roughly the same thing should happen after February 2014 with the SLS technology, which is head and shoulders above FDM in all respects. Laser 3D SLS printers are capable of producing very complex plastic and metal products. And if the cost of such devices drops to 200-300 dollars, then this will be an important step towards the massive domestic production of goods.