Europe at forefront of 3D printing boom over the last decade

3D printing has grown 8 times faster than the mean of each technologies successful the past decade, information from the European Patent Office (EPO) has revealed.

Also called additive manufacturing, 3D printing has a wide array of applications, and has been precocious utilized to make an full building, people lab-grown fish, and adjacent 3D sweets and chocolates successful each sorts of shapes and sizes.

With a integer plan file, the printers are susceptible of making 3 dimensional objects, by laying down layers of worldly connected apical of each other.

The EPO is liable for studying European patent applications, with its examiners analysing and granting European patents to caller inventions.

The organisation’s latest study shows however 3D printing has surged successful the past decade, with patent families successful 3D printing increasing astatine an mean complaint of 26.3 per cent each twelvemonth betwixt 2013 and 2020.

An planetary patent household (IPF) is simply a postulation of patent applications covering the aforesaid oregon akin method content.

This complaint of maturation is 8 times that of the mean of each exertion fields combined implicit the aforesaid period.

“With this study, we’re taking a planetary position connected the 3D printing gyration utilizing planetary patent information to study connected the scope and implications of this exertion trend,” said EPO President António Campinos.

“Europe secured 4 of the apical 10 spots for probe institutions successful additive manufacturing innovation. This bodes good for the aboriginal since method advancement successful this tract often stems from the cutting-edge probe successful these institutions.”

Europe astatine the forefront of 3D printing patents

Along with the US, Europe is starring the planetary contention for 3D printing innovation, according to the EPO’s report.

There person been much than 50,000 IPFs for 3D printing technologies filed worldwide since 2001, 39.8 per cent of which came from the US. Europe meantime accounts for a 32.9 per cent share.

With these 2 regions accounting for astir three-quarters of each 3D printing IPFs, Japan, China and South Korea travel with 13.9 per cent, 3.7 per cent, and 3.1 per cent respectively.

In Europe, Germany has emerged arsenic the wide person with 41 per cent of Europe's share, followed by France with 12 per cent.

The study besides notes however the 3D printing marketplace is becoming overmuch much diverse. Where the main players utilized to beryllium established engineering companies, galore start-ups are present emerging.

While 3D printing tin beryllium utilized successful astir immoderate industry, astir a 5th of each IPFs published betwixt 2001 and 2020 were successful the wellness and aesculapian sector, with the exertion particularly utile for patient-specific implants and anatomical models.