Quote Originally Posted by RobertKuhlmann View Post
A patent will only withstand a lawsuit, if it is a real invention of a specific minimum height. No one should be able to claim the exclusive rights for an actively heated chamber (how does a "passive" heated chamber look like?), because this "invention" is so trivial, the patent may be withdrawn in a law suit.
I think they would risk to loose their patent, not only the lawsuit. 0.02€
You may be right about trivial patents not surviving lawsuits. I have heard of people attaining patents for the most trivial of inventions, but I am not sure how these patents would hold up in court (but then why were they granted in the first place?). As you may have heard, a hardware startup called Formlabs was recently sued by 3D Systems for infringing on their Photolithography patents (very old/basic invention) but I am not sure how that one turned out. The thing is, the law tends to favor those who know all of the loops and does not necessarily protect what is reasonable. A large corporation like 3D Systems will be able to spend large sums of money on top notch lawyers whereas a hardware startup like Formlabs may not have the resources to fight such a large lawsuit.

By actively heated chamber I am referring to a chamber that has temperature regulated by a thermistor with heaters (other than the heat bed) heating the chamber. A "passive" heated chamber would just be an enclosure around the printer that helps retain the heat produced by the heat bed.

Eric