Description
Open Prosthetics: Intellectual Property, 3D Printing, Medical Innovation, and Disability Rights
Professor Matthew Rimmer, QUT
Abstract
This paper considers the role of open innovation makerspaces in the development of prosthetics. In terms of its methodology, this project has relied upon qualitative interviews with key figures in the maker community, as well as field visits to makerspaces. This paper in particular been informed by interviews with open source 3D printing practitioners in the European Union, seeking to address public health, access to medicines and research tools, and disability rights. Part 1 of this paper focuses upon MSF relying upon 3D printing in a refugee camp in Jordan to provide prosthetics for those from the region with disability needs. Part 2 examines a medical 3D printing project run Thomas Maal and Lars Brouwers at Radboud University in Nijmegen in both the Netherlands and Sierra Leone. Part 3 explores the Careables project in Belgium. It focuses upon legal considerations in respect of privacy and data protection; intellectual property; product liability; and medical regulation. The conclusion considers the wider scope for open licensing in respect of 3D printing in the fields of prosthetics and medicine. It also makes recommendations for the expansion of disability rights in respect of intellectual property law.
Biography
Dr Matthew Rimmer is a Professor in Intellectual Property and Innovation Law at the Faculty of Business and Law, at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He has published widely on copyright law and information technology, patent law and biotechnology, access to medicines, plain packaging of tobacco products, intellectual property and climate change, Indigenous Intellectual Property, and intellectual property and trade. He is undertaking research on intellectual property and 3D printing; the regulation of robotics and artificial intelligence; and intellectual property and public health (particularly looking at the coronavirus COVID-19). His work is archived at QUT ePrints, SSRN Abstracts, Bepress Selected Works, and Open Science Framework. Rimmer is currently working as a Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery Project on ‘Inventing The Future: Intellectual Property and 3D Printing’ (2017-2020). This project aims to provide guidance for industry and policy-makers about intellectual property, three-dimensional (3D) printing, and innovation policy. It will consider the evolution of 3D printing, and examine its implications for the creative industries, branding and marketing, manufacturing and robotics, clean technologies, health-care and the digital economy. The project will examine how 3D printing disrupts copyright law, designs law, trade mark law, patent law and confidential information. The project expects to provide practical advice about intellectual property management and commercialisation, and boost Australia’s capacity in advanced manufacturing and materials science. Along with Dinusha Mendis and Mark Lemley, Rimmer is the editor of the collection, 3D Printing and Beyond: Intellectual Property and Regulation (Edward Elgar, 2019). He is also engaged in fieldwork on makerspaces, fab labs, tech shops, Maker Faires, and hackerspaces; and has been conducting interviews with members of the Maker Movement.
Keywords
- 3d printing,
- prosthetics,
- medicine,
- surgery,
- assistive technologies,
- intellectual property,
- human rights,
- disability rights,
- open innovation
Disciplines
Publication Date
February 3, 2021
Citation Information
Matthew Rimmer. "Open Prosthetics: Intellectual Property, 3D Printing, Medical Innovation, and Disability Rights" (2021) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/matthew_rimmer/373/