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The issues at hand are quite new, and so it is still
uncertain exactly how the UK or European courts will
interpret the law in relation to the sharing of 3D CAD
files for patented products, especially from overseas.
However, distributors of digital products in high-tech
industries such as the software and mobile telecoms
industries have already considered many issues
around the distribution of computer files for creating
patented products (i.e. the digital distribution of
mobile phone apps or operating systems). Industries
dealing in 3D products would be well advised to learn
from and adopt some of those best practices in order
to put in place the most useful protection, now that
digital distribution of 3D product designs is a reality.
The UK courts have addressed the issue of server
systems which are arranged to carry out patented
methods, including the situation where servers are
located outside the UK and where end users are
located in the UK (in the case of Menashe Business
Mercantile Ltd & others v William Hill Organization Ltd).
In that case, since the whole patented system was
used by the users in the UK, it was decided that
infringement occurred in the UK, regardless of the
location of the servers. This enabled the court to
find that the defendant was liable for secondary
infringement, by providing elements of the patented
system (namely the servers) outside the UK. Your
patent attorney can also advise you on how a
patent can be drafted to seek to cover this type of
“international” patent infringement.
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