Navy drone producer Firestorm Labs has filed a lawsuit in opposition to competitor RapidFlight in an mental property (IP) dispute. The San Diego-based firm claims that RapidFlight falsely accused its 3D printed Tempest drone of infringing on two patents.
Filed in america District Court docket for the Southern District of California, the case sees Firestorm request a jury trial to substantiate that it has not infringed on both of RapidFlight’s US patent numbers 11,597,490 or 11,840,323. These relate to drone airframe constructions with a number of 3D printed sections.
Within the court docket submitting, Firestorm argues that its drone-making adversary has didn’t compete on know-how capabilities, efficiency, and worth. The corporate highlights one occasion the place, throughout a head-to-head demonstration, RapidFlight “figuratively and actually—crashed and burned.”
The plaintiff asserts that these failings have led the defendant to make use of “unsupported threats in an try and bully Firestorm out of the business.” This reportedly contains repeated patent infringement assertions made verbally and in writing for over a 12 months. RapidFlight can also be mentioned to have made unsupported allegations to its competitor’s potential prospects, giving them an unfair benefit in achieving authorities contracts.
Along with a declaration that Firestorm has not infringed the patents in query, the unmanned aerial system (UAS) producer is in search of compensation for authorized charges and extra reduction deemed applicable by the court docket. The anticipation that RapidFlight would file a patent infringement lawsuit prompted Firestorm to launch this pre-emptive declaratory judgment motion.
Firestorm Labs and RapidFlight have been contacted for remark.
Firestorm challenges RapidFlight’s 3D printing patent infringement claims
The Grievance for Patent Infringement Lawsuit outlines a slew of allegations in opposition to RapidFlight, highlighting repeated authorized threats and accusations. Firestorm acknowledged that it responded to those in good religion, explaining why it believes them to be false. Regardless of this, RapidFlight is alleged to have continued in “unjustified accusations of infringement.” The Virginia-based agency additionally reportedly refused to interact and attain an amicable decision.
In a single letter from June 2023, RapidFlight is alleged to have demanded that the plaintiff cease promoting its alleged infringing merchandise, destroy all offending stock, and pay royalties. The letter accuses Firestorm of infringing the 11,547,490 patent, demanding the agency acquiesce to those calls for inside two weeks.
In response, a number of letters have been despatched to RapidFlight in July and August 2023 outlining why these allegations have been false. Specifically, Firestorm claims {that a} connector element was misidentified as a patented “reinforcement ingredient,” voiding the infringement declare. 3D fashions of related drone sections have been additionally despatched for instance the corporate’s innocence.
Following this, RapidFlight reportedly requested entry to its competitor’s confidential and delicate “technical manuals or different product design paperwork.” Firestorm denied this request, categorizing it as a “fishing expedition” to seek out potential infringements.
The defendant then allegedly communicated “unsupported allegations” to potential Firestorm shoppers, together with authorities decision-makers. This reportedly included claims {that a} patent infringement lawsuit was imminent, in an try and “acquire an unfair benefit” in securing aggressive contracts. The San Diego-based drone maker hopes launching this swimsuit will “clear the cloud of litigation from its enterprise and its prospects.”
3D printing patent disputes
Firestorm is likely one of the newest firms to face 3D printing patent infringement allegations. Final 12 months, Stratasys sued Bambu Lab, accusing the main Shenzhen-based market chief of infringing on ten patents. The plaintiff argued that Bambu’s X1C, X1E, P1S, P1P, A1, and A1 mini breached IP regarding processes and options like purge towers, heated construct platforms, instrument head drive detection, and networking capabilities.
Stratasys demanded a trial by jury to realize a declaration that the patents had been infringed upon, along with damages and an injunction blocking the long run sale of the offending machines.
This case has drawn criticism from the open-source 3D printing neighborhood. RepRap founder Dr. Adrian Bowyer referred to as the concept of patents “nonsense upon stilts,” arguing that they “inhibit creativity and stifle innovation.” He criticized Stratasys for participating in “patent parasite habits.”
This sentiment was echoed by Dr. Joshua Pearce, who worries that the case might result in the weaponization of IP. Andrew Spitzer, a patent litigator from Crowell & Moring, believes the case might trigger a “seismic shift within the 3D printing panorama,” with Stratasys doubtlessly changing into a “gatekeeper to the 3D printing business.”
Elsewhere, 2024 noticed 3D printer producer Markforged settle a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Steady Composites, resolving a authorized battle that started in 2021. The allegations associated to Markforged’s infringement of a number of patents regarding steady composite additive manufacturing.
Earlier within the 12 months, a jury dominated in opposition to Markforged on one patent declare, awarding $17.34 million in damages. In September, Markforged signed a Settlement and Patent License Settlement, through which it agreed to pay Continous Composites an additional $18 million upfront, adopted by $1 million in 2025, $2 million in 2026, and $4 million in 2027.
Who received the 2024 3D Printing Business Awards?
All of the information from Formnext 2024.
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Featured picture reveals a RapidFlight M2 drone. Picture through RapidFlight.
