[bernardom]

Business reality: patent trolls exist.

Rational strategy: patent things that you think you have no business patenting. Use for defensive purposes.

If Makerbot starts using such patents offensively, then anger is warranted. Not before.

[fudged71]

Makerbot is now owned by Stratasys. Stratasys is now attacking Makerbot alternatives such as Afinia.

http://3dprintingindustry.com/2013/11/26/stratasys-throws-cu...

[hyborg787]

How do you avoid the chilling effects of patents existing then without getting into patent pools or cross-licensing arrangements? People will be hesitant to put any time into R&D if they don't have assurances their work won't be quashed by lawyers.

[nova]

Funny how patents are supposed to encourage innovation and they're doing exactly the opposite.

[bernardom]

Just commented on this below (sorry it's so late).

It's an arms race! The system is broken. But I wouldn't blame an individual for picking the right strategy to maximize their chances.

[rhizome]

If Makerbot starts using such patents offensively, then anger is warranted. Not before.

The problem with that is that you don't know whether they'll use the patent offensively or defensively until after it's granted.

[general_failure]

Right, one cannot start a competing company assuming that Makerbot won't sue.

[bernardom]

Great points. But isn't this the dictionary definition of "don't hate the player, hate the game?"

They need to arm themselves to survive an attack... which makes it so everyone else has to arm themselves in case they attack... arms race!