Florida-based Slice Engineering has reached an agreement with Creality over a patent non-infringement lawsuit filed by the Shenzhen-based 3D printer manufacturer.
Creality filed the original declaratory judgment lawsuit in July of last year in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Gainesville Division. It alleged that Slice Engineering had wrongly accused it of infringing two hotend patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 10,875,244 and 11,660,810, which cover specific mechanical and thermal features in Slice’s Mosquito 3D printer hotend. Creality sought a jury trial to obtain a ruling that it had not infringed either patent.
According to court documents, in December 2024, Slice Engineering filed a countersuit. The Florida-based hotend developer maintained that Creality “has infringed and continues to infringe” on both patents. It also claimed that Creality refused to negotiate and denied allegations of harassing Creality’s partners, distributors, and customers. Slice Engineering sought a jury trial, damages for the alleged infringements, and an injunction to stop further infringing sales in the U.S.
However, the case has now been dropped following a mutual resolution. Legal documents show that both parties have permanently dismissed all claims and counterclaims and agreed to cover their own legal fees and costs.
In an official press release, Slice Engineering commented: “Creality and Slice Engineering look forward to many years of collaboration to provide innovative 3D printing solutions and move the additive manufacturing industry forward.”
Shenzhen Creality 3D Technology Co., Ltd. v. Slice Engineering LLC
In the lawsuit, Shenzhen Creality 3D Technology Co., Ltd. v. Slice Engineering LLC, Creality accused Slice Engineering of requesting “exorbitant license fees” for its 3D printer hotend kits, “even though Plaintiff’s products do not infringe the Patents-in-Suit.”
In the filing, Creality claimed that Slice Engineering “turned to harass” its distributors, customers, and business partners. The complaint also claimed that Slice filed online takedown notices against Creality’s customers through the IACC MarketSafe Program on AliExpress.com.
These notices allegedly accused Creality of patent infringement involving several products, including the Spider High Temperature Hotend, K1 Series Ceramic Heating Block Kit, Spider High Temperature and High Flow Hotend Pro, Spider Water-cooled Ceramic Hotend, Spider Speedy Ceramic Hotend, and the Ender-3 V3 SE/KE Ceramic Heating Block Kit.
Creality further alleged that Slice Engineering submitted additional complaints through Amazon’s Patent Evaluation Express Program. These complaints reportedly targeted the Spider High Temperature and High Flow Hotend Pro, as well as the Creality K1C 3D printer, which is equipped with the K1 Series Ceramic Heating Block Kit.
Creality vehemently denied the alleged patent infringements and sought a legal judgment to clear itself of any wrongdoing. It also requested the Court to award attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses incurred during the legal battle.
Slice engineering counters Creality’s allegations
According to the court documents, Slice Engineering rejected all of Creality’s noninfringement arguments and reaffirmed that Creality had infringed both the ’244 and ’810 patents.
Slice alleged that several Creality products sold in the United States violated its patent rights, including the Spider High Temperature Hotend, the K1 Series Ceramic Heating Block Kit used in the K1C, K1, and K2 3D printers, the Spider High Flow Hotend Pro, the Water-cooled and Speedy Ceramic Hotends, as well as the Ender-3 V3 SE/KE hotend kits and Ender 3 V3 Plus printers. The Gainesville-based company’s countersuit stated that Creality’s technical defenses misinterpreted the scope and language of the patent claims.
Slice Engineering also responded to the accusations made in Creality’s original lawsuit filing. In its countersuit, the defendant denied claims that it approached Creality to request “exorbitant license fees” for its products. Instead, Slice Engineering stated that, on June 8, 2023, it sent a letter notifying Creality that it was “likely infringing” both patents.
According to the legal documents filed on behalf of Slice Engineering, Creality disregarded multiple attempts to negotiate a collaboration or licensing agreement related to the disputed patents. Although Slice acknowledged submitting takedown notices targeting the allegedly infringing products on AliExpress.com and Amazon.com, it denied any misconduct or harassment.
The U.S. hotend developer maintained that both e-commerce platforms independently reviewed the complaints and made their own determinations to remove the product listings. As a result, Slice rejected the plaintiff’s accusations that it was responsible for takedowns that caused “actual and imminent injury” and “substantial harm” to Creality’s business.
In its countersuit, the Defendant also challenged the legal basis of Creality’s lawsuit, arguing that the case lacked proper jurisdiction. Slice noted that Creality, as a Shenzhen-based company, failed to identify any U.S.-based sellers, distributors, or affiliates affected by the alleged patent enforcement actions. According to the countersuit, this omission undermined Creality’s standing and raised questions about whether the Florida federal court had personal jurisdiction to hear the case.
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Featured image shows Slice Engineering’s Mosquito Prime hotend. Image via Slice Engineering.
