Darrell Mottley

Clashes are cropping up as 3-D printers become more affordable and websites such as Thingiverse.com post blueprints to help the machines build everything from toy tanks to replacement toaster parts. The disputes are ushering in a new era in legal skirmishes over high-tech designs, threatening a printing market that’s estimated by Wohlers Associates to surge to $10.8 billion by 2021 from $2.2 billion last year.