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Texas jury hits Bambu Lab with $27.6M verdict in Stratasys patent fight — X1, P1, and A1 printers found to infringe prime tower and bed-leveling tech Stratasys holds over 2,600 patents related to 3D printing dating back to the 1980s. A Texas jury found Bambu Lab liable for patent infringement in the creation of the X1, P1, and A1 series of 3D printers, and awarded Stratasys, Inc. $27.6 million dollars in damages. The patents in dispute cover prime towers and bed leveling methods used by consumer 3D printers of multiple brands. Bambu Lab has issued a statement to Tom's Hardware about the developments. Stratasys, Inc., invented FDM 3D printing. Its co-founder Scott Crump held US5121329 filed in 1989, for the "Apparatus and Method for Creating Three-Dimensional Objects. That patent expired in 2009, opening the doors to consumer 3D printing. No injunctions have been placed on the machines named in the suit, which are all from Bambu Lab’s “first generation” of 3D printers. An anonymous source said Bambu Lab has been working on an alternative to prime towers should the need arise, but that information has not yet been made public. The X1, Bambu Lab’s first 3D printer, launched in May 2022, was retired earlier this year. The P1S is not officially retired, but was nominally replaced by the P2S in October 2025. The A1 and A1 Mini are still part of Bambu’s active lineup, though a larger A2L was introduced this summer. The first-gen Bambu Lab machines use single-nozzle filament purging, covered by Stratasys US 9421713 patent. They also rely on specific strain-gauge and force-sensor implementations targeted by Stratasys's US 9168698 patent. The newer H2 lineup, as well as the X2, are all dual-nozzle machines, which have side-stepped US 9421713. They also employ optical sensors and re-engineered bed probing that avoid the force-detection feedback loops claimed by Stratasys. We asked the team at Prusa Research if this ongoing patent dispute had any impact on the development of the INDX, a multi-nozzle toolchanger that does not require the use of a prime or purge tower. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. “Our motivation was to have minimal waste,” said a Prusa Research rep. “In our eyes, this is a better solution than a prime tower.” The INDX nozzles prime filament by wiping tiny pellets no larger than a grain of rice into a waste cup inside the printer. A representative from Bambu Lab reached out to Tom’s Hardware with the following statement: "We appreciate the time and effort of the jury in considering this matter. While we respect the judicial process, we disagree with the verdict reached in this case. The law provides Bambu with the right to seek post-trial review and to appeal, and Bambu intends to avail itself of these legal processes." Bambu Lab has a sticky situation on its hands, as this ruling only covers US patents, and thus machines sold in the United States. In Europe, the company successfully defended its use of the technology held under similar European patents. This means an X1-Carbon in New York would violate a Stratasys prime tower patent, but the same machine in Germany would not. In April of this year, the European Unified Patent Court (UPC) The Hague Local Division dismissed Stratasys’ preliminary injunction application against Bambu Lab. The court rejected Stratasys’ attempts to broaden its claims, and Stratasys did not appeal. The Texas judgement handed down Friday is part of a larger multi-patent dispute. Bambu Lab successfully invalidated patents US 9592660 covering the use of heated build surfaces and flexible spring steel plates. Bambu Lab argued that this is not one singular invention but a combination of designs that were later patented by Stratasys after it acquired Arevo, Inc. These designs were revealed in prior art, making them fair game. It was also able to defend its use of networked, cloud-connected 3D printing with remote camera monitoring, covered by US 8562324. Four more patents are still awaiting judgement in Texas. These cover RFID tags on material, remote networking, LiDAR scanning and automatic printer detection. Notably, the LiDAR has only been used on the now defunct X1 Carbon. Stratasys filed two civil lawsuits in 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Bambu Lab for the alleged infringement of ten different U.S. patents regarding 3D printers. Stratasys was founded in Eden Prairie, MN, and has its North American headquarters there. Bambu Lab, a Chinese company, maintains offices in Austin, TX, which is in the Western Texas District Court. The Eastern District has a reputation for being friendly to patent holders, with U.S. District Judge Alan Albright at one point hearing over 25% of the nation’s patent cases. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Denise Bertacchi is a Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware US, covering 3D printing. Denise has been crafting with PCs since she discovered Print Shop had clip art on her Apple IIe. She loves reviewing 3D printers because she can mix all her passions: printing, photography, and writing. - RobMilliken So we didn't even get to use 3d printing tech until a particular patent expired? But people are still being sued? Are patents really for or against innovation? How did the consumer benefit while waiting? Seems like an example of patent sitting.Reply - Darkhands Reply Stratasys has been squatting on 3d printing patents forever, milking money out of them since the beginning of things. You'll notice that heated chambers suddenly came out on a million different models at once a few years ago... That's because the patent for the idea expired.RobMilliken said:So we didn't even get to use 3d printing tech until a particular patent expired? But people are still being sued? Are patents really for or against innovation? How did the consumer benefit while waiting? Seems like an example of patent sitting. I'm not losing any sleep over Bambu taking a financial hit, but this is a reminder that Stratasys is still out there preying on 3d printing companies and sucking money out of them whenever they can. The sooner all the patents expire, the better. - DS426 Reply No, it just means the technology has to be licensed.RobMilliken said:So we didn't even get to use 3d printing tech until a particular patent expired? But people are still being sued? Are patents really for or against innovation? How did the consumer benefit while waiting? Seems like an example of patent sitting. If a product used a patent technology while the patent was still active and didn't license it, yes, that could be grounds for a lawsuit. - Eximo There is always that problem of patenting something that is extremely basic, or the only physical way to achieve something. Such patents shouldn't be granted in the first place.Reply I'm sure someone with more direct knowledge of 3D printing, CNC, etc can chime in, but there can't be too many ways to level a bed...or patenting applying heat as in the example mentioned above. - USAFRet Reply Laser and physical touch points are probably the two most common. I'm sure there are more.Eximo said:I'm sure someone with more direct knowledge of 3D printing, CNC, etc can chime in, but there can't be too many ways to level a bed - Eximo Reply Yeah, I assume they patented some self leveling technology using, hopefully, something novel.USAFRet said:Laser and physical touch points are probably the two most common. I'm sure there are more. - LordVile Reply “Heated chambers” is a bit rich. I haven’t seen one that actually meets the same standard as stratasys. Most are just “the bed heats the cavity”.Darkhands said:Stratasys has been squatting on 3d printing patents forever, milking money out of them since the beginning of things. You'll notice that heated chambers suddenly came out on a million different models at once a few years ago... That's because the patent for the idea expired. I'm not losing any sleep over Bambu taking a financial hit, but this is a reminder that Stratasys is still out there preying on 3d printing companies and sucking money out of them whenever they can. The sooner all the patents expire, the better. Most printers that say they’re FDM aren’t, they’re just FFF and lie about a heated chamber because it gets warmer than ambient. - LordVile Reply They’re best thing for me is the actual build plate on the larger models which uses a vacuum to suck a flexible sheet of plastic to the bed to create a build surface that is rock solid and ensures the part doesn’t move.Eximo said:Yeah, I assume they patented some self leveling technology using, hopefully, something novel. - theboz1419 Reply FDM and FFF are exactly the same tech. Being heated has nothing to do with FDM and FFF. The reason most 3d printers are FFF and not FDM, is that Stratasys still have the patent for FDM printers.LordVile said:“Heated chambers” is a bit rich. I haven’t seen one that actually meets the same standard as stratasys. Most are just “the bed heats the cavity”. Most printers that say they’re FDM aren’t, they’re just FFF and lie about a heated chamber because it gets warmer than ambient. There are not much of a need for active heating cabinets, except for material such as PEEK, PEI, and some High temp nylons. Most never print these materials and if they do then either buy an active heated 3d printer or make the heated cabinet themselves. I made an IKEA chamber for my printer, many many years ago and passive heating is all you really need on most materials.
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