Fig. 1 from patent no. 8,286,236

Apparently the advent of 3D printing technology is scary enough that before we're even able to print out a new pair of shoes, patent trolls Intellectual Ventures have secured a patent that might prevent the use of 3D printing technology for making really fun stuff like cars, or zeppelins.

MIT's Technology Review blog has taken a look at the patent and finds that it is a weirdly comprehensive attempt to enforce digital rights management (DRM) for items no one ever knew might need such protection:

The patent isn't limited to 3-D printing, also known as additive manufacturing. It also covers using digital files in extrusion, ejection, stamping, die casting, printing, painting, and tattooing and with materials that include "skin, textiles, edible substances, paper, and silicon printing."

As the MIT blog points out, Intellectual Ventures, which is run by Microsoft's former Chief Technical Officer Nathan Myhrvold, couldn't have better timing, since MakerBot has already opened their magical, SoHo-based "real-life portal" for people ready to jump into the brave new world of 3D printing.

If Mr. Myhrvold and his company have their way, a trip to the Nolita MakerBot to get a shiny new skin may be out of the question.

U mad? (Photo: Wikipedia)

Oh good, the patent trolls are at it again.

There's something remarkably sinister about shell companies whose raison d'être is to mess with people actually working to innovate and build cool things. Silver State Intellectual Technologies, a shell company based in Las Vegas, is no exception. Now it's taking its own brand of assholery to one of New York's most adored startups: Foursquare.

GigaOm reports that Silver State claims to own the patent for GPS information technology, and is subsequently suing Foursquare for, like most modern internet companies, using GPS?

Writes GigaOm:

In a complaint filed Wednesday in Las Vegas, Silver State Intellectual Technologies Inc asked for an injunction and damages related to U.S .Patent 7475057 (“System and method for user navigation”) and U.S. Patent 7343165 (“GPS Publication Application Server”)....Silver State’s short legal filing (embedded below) doesn’t describe how exactly Foursquare infringed on the patent.

Luckily, most suits of these kind settle out of court, ending with the sued company paying a fee to license the patented technology. Hopefully with the freshly launched sponsored updates, Foursquare will have some spare cash to throw at the problem.

You'll be funding my next project, like it or not

As first reported by PaidContent, Kickstarter is embroiled in a legal battle with musician and entrepreneur named Brian Camelio, who's notable achievements include playing on a Journey record. In their claim, Kickstarter says Mr. Camelio has shown up multiple times to demand they pay to license his technology. He currently runs the site ArtistShare, where users can contribute to musicians and participate in the creative process. He obtained a patent for this process earlier this year.

Mr. Camelio's claim seems absurd on several levels. First and foremost, Kickstarter can clearly show that they were in business before his patent was approved. Second, there is very little complex technology at work here. The concept of crowdsourcing funds predates both this patent and Kickstarter by many years, even on the web. The fact that both focus on creative projects seems completely irrelevant to the software or business method.

But in the absurdist universe of our current patent system, this kind of thing can become a serious legal problem. The terrifying truth, as we have reported at length earlier this year, is that any company which gets too visible in the press or raises too much money is more than likely going to be hit with a patent infringement claim. And it's often cheaper to settle than to fight, so it's admirable Kickstarter is choosing not to roll over.

Here is the abstract of Mr. Camelio's patent:

The present invention is directed to a system and method for raising financing and/or revenue by artist for a project, where the project may be a creative work of the artist. The method including registering, by at least one artist, with a centralized database, at least one or more projects, offering, by the at least one artist, an entitlement related to the artist in exchange for capital for the project of the artist. The method and system may also include searching, by an interested party, the centralized database, for the least one artist, registering, by the interested party, with the centralized database and accepting the offer by the interested party for the entitlement related to the project. The capital may then be forwarded to the artist and the entitlement provided to the interested party.

The only reason such an obvious and non-technical claim can become a patent is because our current system allow for business method patents on almost anything, so long as the claim somehow involves the exchange of money and the use of a computer.

We've reached out to Mr. Camelio and Kickstarter and will update with comment.