Carbon reports a significant legal victory in Europe. According to the company, a Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) has rejected a competitor’s challenge to one of Carbon’s foundational dual cure patents, upholding the broadest claim of Carbon’s European Patent No. 3158400.
The ruling affirms the earlier EPO Opposition Division decision maintaining claim 1 and restores additional dependent claims that had been removed during the original opposition proceeding.
Dual-cure is the chemistry at the heart of Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology. The resin is first cured with light during printing, then a second, usually thermal, reaction is applied to the finished object, giving the part its final mechanical properties.
A Board of Appeal decision is not subject to an ordinary appeal. However, Article 112a of the European Patent Convention provides for a petition for review on limited grounds, including fundamental procedural defects.
For the market, this means that companies offering comparable light-then-heat resin processes in Europe must now reckon with a patent that has been tested and confirmed.
For Philip DeSimone, CEO of Carbon, the decision “confirms the strength and breadth of the innovation that is foundational to Carbon’s platform.” He added that Carbon will keep investing in and protecting its innovations.
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