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Contents8
  1. Consumer-impact summary
  2. Incidents
  3. Ditching open-source (2012):
  4. Change to Thingiverse terms of use (2012):
  5. Accusations of IP theft (2014):
  6. Sued for Smart Extruder unreliability (2015):
  7. See also
  8. References

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MakerBot
Basic information
Founded 2009
Legal Structure Subsidiary
Industry 3D printing
Also known as
Official website https://makerbot.com/

MakerBot Industries, LLC was an American technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of 3D printing peripherals and accessories. Originally an offshoot of the RepRap project, MakerBot initially produced open-source kit printers and operated the public project repository Thingiverse, which MakerBot's founders created in 2008. In 2012, with the launch of it's Replicator 2 3D printer, MakerBot fully pivoted to closed-source consumer and enterprise machines. It was acquired by Stratasys in June 2013.[1]

MakerBot was at one point, the market leader in desktop FDM 3D printers, but its market dominance was steadily eroded by an explosion in popularity of less-expensive, open-source competitors.[2] Its closed-source machines and business practices proved to be unpopular with the largely DIY-focused maker community. Starting in 2015, MakerBot began to focus more on the enterprise and education markets, ultimately abandoning the consumer market by 2017. It also laid off hundreds of employees during this time.[3][4]

On August 31, 2022, Stratasys finalized a merger between MakerBot and its long-time market competitor Ultimaker.[5] The merged company is known as Ultimaker, with the MakerBot branding only retained for its Sketch line of education-focused 3D printers.

Consumer-impact summary

  • User Freedom: MakerBot updated the Thingiverse terms of use to say that MakerBot owns everything submitted by users on Thingiverse. However, MakerBot later changed this so that users own what they submit to Thingiverse. MakerBot also stopped making open-source printers, and started making closed-source printers instead with proprietary hardware and software.
  • Market Control: MakerBot has extensive competition, with other brands such as Bambu Lab, Creality, and Prusa Research having more market share than MakerBot. Makerbot also merged with Ultimaker, and only the Sketch line of printers is under the MakerBot brand name.

Incidents

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the MakerBot category.

Ditching open-source (2012):

MakerBot abandoned its original open-source business practices in favor of developing closed-source machines with proprietary components and software.[6] The move was unpopular with consumers, and MakerBot began to lose its market share to less-expensive, open-source 3D printers over the course of the next decade.

Change to Thingiverse terms of use (2012):

MakerBot updated the Thingiverse terms of use, appearing to assert ownership over anything uploaded to the site, despite users being allowed to dictate their own usage terms under Creative Commons.[7] The terms of use in section 3.1 currently state that "You retain all your intellectual property rights in your User Content. Company does not claim ownership in any User Content." These terms were introduced on January 3rd, 2023. [8]

Accusations of IP theft (2014):

MakerBot was accused of stealing and patenting user-uploaded designs from its public design repository, Thingiverse.[9] MakerBot denied wrongdoing and showed its patents were filed before the contested designs were shared, but the accusation highlighted ongoing concerns with Thingiverse's terms of use.[10]

Sued for Smart Extruder unreliability (2015):

Makerbot was hit with a class-action lawsuit, claiming the Smart Extruder for its fifth-generation printers was deliberately engineered to fail in order to boost sales for replacement components.[11] The suit was dismissed by the court, which decided that MakerBot did not mislead customers.[12] MakerBot would later release a more reliable, albeit more expensive Smart Extruder+.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Clay, Kelly. "3D Printing Company MakerBot Acquired In $604 Million Deal". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2025-10-04.
  2. ↑ Zaleski, Andrew (2015-11-27). "Why MakerBot and 3D Systems are Losing the Desktop 3D Market". FORTUNE. Archived from the original on 2017-10-27.
  3. ↑ Pearson, Jordan (2015-04-17). "MakerBot Just Laid Off 20 Percent of Its Staff". VICE. Archived from the original on 2025-10-04.
  4. ↑ King, Rachel (2017-02-15). "MakerBot Prepares for Another Round of Layoffs". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02.
  5. ↑ "Stratasys Completes Merger of MakerBot With Ultimaker". Stratasys. 2022-09-13. Archived from the original on 2025-12-21.
  6. ↑ Brown, Rich (2012-09-27). "Pulling back from open source hardware, MakerBot angers some adherents". CNET. Archived from the original on 2026-01-24.
  7. ↑ Benchoff, Brian (2012-09-20). "Makerbot, Occupy Thingiverse, And The Reality Of Selling Open Hardware". Hackaday. Archived from the original on 2025-10-08.
  8. ↑ "Terms of Use - MakerBot". MakerBot. 2023-01-03. 3.1. Archived from the original on 2023-10-26. Retrieved 2025-08-16. You retain all your intellectual property rights in your User Content. Company does not claim ownership in any User Content.
  9. ↑ Molitch-Hou, Michael (2014-05-28). "Has MakerBot Become TakerBot?". 3D Printing Industry. Archived from the original on 2016-05-01.
  10. ↑ Biggs, John (2014-05-28). "MakerBot Responds To Critics Who Claim It Is Stealing Community IP". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2025-11-11.
  11. ↑ Stultz, Matt (2015-07-14). "MakerBot Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Faulty Extruders". Make:. Archived from the original on 2025-12-10.
  12. ↑ Hall, Nick (2016-07-12). "Class action lawsuit against MakerBot dismissed". 3D Printing Industry. Archived from the original on 2025-10-04.
  13. ↑ Robertson, Adi (2016-01-04). "MakerBot is replacing its most ill-fated 3D printing product". The Verge.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) (Archived)
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