Richard Baker, president of New England Intellectual Property, helps inventors acquire, sell and license patents for electrical and mechanical devices. Sometimes a client's pending patent includes drawings but Baker doesn't get an actual prototype -- that's when he puts his 3-D printer to work.
Inventors aren't required to provide a patent model, but it helps Baker to see the physical object when consulting on a patent application. If it's not described accurately, the applicant may end up with a patent for a different invention. Plus, he said a prototype helps lure investors.
Baker takes the text and drawings and translates them into a file that a 3-D printer can read. He then sends the printed object to the inventor to confirm the design. If Baker's model is off, he'll try again.
"It makes it a lot easier to know exactly what the inventor is talking about," Baker said. "I need to see something real."
