Honda Has Demanded the Removal of All Brand-Related 3D Printable Files

One of the biggest uses of 3D printing has been to create customized parts in the automotive world. Creative minds around the world are solving problems or customizing their cars with the help of additive manufacturing. And many of the automotive companies support this community of makers, in fact there are several that provide drawings and files to help build and share these custom parts. A recent example of this was Ford, which released a large number of files to 3D print accessories for the Maverick model. However, not all automakers share the same sentiment.

Recently, automaker Honda asked 3D printer manufacturer Prusa to remove all files with the brand name from its “Printables” platform. A Prusa spokesperson explained to The Drive, “I can confirm that we have received a letter from a lawyer representing Honda, informing us that we were required to remove any model which used ‘Honda’ in the listing, the model itself, or one of several trademarks/logos also associated with Honda. This will also be related to the naming of the files it self (sic), as for Honda this would be considered as a violation of their trademark/patents”

Example file for 3D printing a part by Thingiverse (Image credits: Thingiverse).

In the past, the additive manufacturing community has made available numerous open source designs and files for fixtures and other parts from well-known brands. For example, global electronics firm Panasonic has made more than 75,000 free CAD files available to customers for its electronic components. So has automaker Ford, which released CAD files for customers to print their own Maverick pickup truck accessories.