I&#x27;ve seen a very similar article before, and it&#x27;s utter bullshit.  Few mechanical parts are covered by patents.  You can&#x27;t copyright a working part; the auto industry tried to get that enacted into law and failed. You can make all the clone auto parts you want, and you&#x27;ll find many of them for sale at your local auto parts store.<p>There&#x27;s one area in which this is a problem, for small values of &quot;problem&quot; - people turning out movie fan merchandise on 3D printers.[1]  3D printers are good enough to make that stuff, although at a far higher price point than injection molding.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wsj.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;hollywoods-other-piracy-problem-3-d-printers-1437420799" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wsj.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;hollywoods-other-piracy-problem-...</a>