As one legal debacle begins, another concludes. As of September 7th, 2016, Thor3D announced the end of a lengthy legal dispute with Artec Europe S.a.r.l. in Germany. The Dusseldorf Higher Court handed down a final decision in favor of Thor3D and the creator of the technology behind the scanner, Mr. Andrey Klimov, on August 25th, 2016.
The disagreement started in 2015, when Artec Europe S.a.r.l mistakenly assumed that misappropriated tech was present in Thor3D’s scanner (the Thor scanner, not the recently announced Drake). The company then filed a claim in the Dusseldorf court asking them to confiscate one of the Thor3D scanners at the Euromold 2015 exhibition for independent review. A prototype was seized when the Court granted the request.
Now seeing as this action was taken as a precaution, Thor3D wasn’t informed ahead of time and therefore didn’t have a chance to voice their opposition. The Court, at the time, agreed with the plaintiff that once the exhibition was over, the alleged device might leave the country. It wasn’t until several months later that Thor3D had an opportunity to present their arguments before a judge in a hearing in March 2016. The Court sided with Thor3D, and agreed that the prototype should never have been confiscated in the first place. Artec Europe S.a.r.l never proved they had exclusive rights to what they claimed was “their” technology, and even after an appeal on their part in August 2016, the Court upheld its decision.
Thor3D has stated that:
- There have never been any restrictions on the sale of Thor3D technology, anywhere in the world.
- Thor3D technology (hardware & software) is fully-protected by international patents and registrations/certifications.
- Thor3D, in its products, has never used software code that it did not have rights to.
Featured image: Thor3D
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