I don't see a problem here, for Lego or anyone who might want to print their own blocks, as long as they don't print the Lego logo on them and try to pass them off as the real thing (in which case they'd be violating the trademark). Patent protection for the basic Lego blocks expired a long time ago, so that's not an issue. And there's no way that printing blocks at home will ever be as time-efficient or cost-effective as injection-molding them, even if costs come down substantially. Lego expends a lot of effort on quality control, so their blocks are always going to work better than any home-printed copies.

While it's certainly possible for people to print Lego-compatible parts to customize their own creations, that seems more likely to spur demand for the basic bricks than to supplant it. Lego is a very savvy company, which has pioneered home robotics kits (Mindstorm) and taken advantage of crowd-sourcing to generate new product ideas. It looks like they are more likely to turn the 3D printing craze to their own advantage than to let it harm them. Here's an article about them to ponder: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/arch...ilding-success

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com