Legal considerations for using digital twins in additive manufacture a review of the literature

Rapid technological change presents new opportunities and reveals new risks, challenging existing governance arrangements. The fusion of Industry 4.0 technologies combines with Additive Manufacturing (AM) to create new business solutions. Legal issues with AM are well documented, for example Daly[1] explores the interaction of 3D printing with the law, identifying Intellectual Property, Product Liability and Data Privacy as areas of importance. However, this technology fusion has also enabled improved real-time digital representation, monitoring, simulation and control of the physical delivered through applications of Digital Twin. Such Digital Twins are prevalent in manufacturing and in AM can potentially provide assurance that a printed item meets specified requirements. However, additional legal considerations are emerging. This paper illustrates these by examining the attributes of "Digital Twins in Additive Manufacture Use Cases" revealed through literature.