The Rise of Chinese 3D Printing Software: Intellectual Property Dispute Between VoxelDance and nTopology Resolved

Panda3dp.com Editorial: A renaissance may be on the horizon for domestically developed 3D printing software.

On March 28, 2025, Chinese 3D printing software developer VoxelDance announced a piece of news that has invigorated the industry:

VoxelDance is pleased to announce that it has successfully resolved its intellectual property dispute with the U.S.-based company nTopology. Effective immediately, the Design Module of VoxelDance Additive has resumed sales in the German market—bringing the controversy to a close.

The company expressed its delight in continuing its mission to deliver groundbreaking, high-quality software to users worldwide and to drive the sustained development of the additive manufacturing industry.

VoxelDance extended heartfelt thanks to its customers, partners, and supporters across society for their trust and backing throughout the process. Looking ahead, the company pledged to further strengthen its technological research and market outreach in order to create greater value for global users.

At the Formnext 3D Printing Exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany, in November 2024, VoxelDance was accused and sanctioned for alleged infringement of intellectual property related to 3D printing software—a severe setback. Now, with the matter resolved and the product reinstated in the German market, the company expressed repeated satisfaction and optimism.

As China's 3D printing industry expands in scale and deepens across sectors, domestically produced 3D printers and materials have advanced rapidly, and now expectations are rising for homegrown software. As one of the leading independent 3D printing software companies in China, Shanghai-based VoxelDance has drawn consistent attention from both the industry and investors since its founding.

VoxelDance Additive, independently developed by Shanghai VoxelDance Software Co., Ltd., is an industrial software platform for additive manufacturing that integrates modeling, simulation, and fabrication functions. The platform includes three core modules: VoxelDance Design, VoxelDance Engineering, and VoxelDance Manufacturing—providing enterprises with a seamless, all-in-one 3D printing solution.

By unifying critical stages such as design, research and development, manufacturing, simulation, toolpath planning, and print task management, VoxelDance Additive constructs an uninterrupted digital workflow for additive manufacturing. This streamlined approach not only improves data transfer efficiency but also significantly reduces the risks of data loss or distortion, thereby enhancing production efficiency, product quality, and reducing manufacturing costs.

The platform supports a wide range of industrial-grade additive manufacturing technologies, including LPBF, SLA, DLP/LCD, SLS, sand casting, and micro/nano fabrication. Its applications span diverse sectors such as aerospace, rapid prototyping, footwear mold design, dental resin and metal applications, jewelry design, medical devices, education and research, industrial tooling, and consumer goods manufacturing.

△ A 3D printing support structure designed with VoxelDance software

nTopology is a parametric implicit modeling software tailored for additive manufacturing, offering a high-efficiency design platform. It comes equipped with a comprehensive suite of design toolkits commonly used in additive manufacturing. Engineers can utilize preset toolkits or develop custom ones to build workflows for the parametric design of complex geometric structures. The software combines powerful geometry modeling with simulation analysis capabilities and fully accommodates the unique characteristics of additive manufacturing processes. It empowers engineers to swiftly master design methodologies suited to additive manufacturing, unleashing the technology’s vast design freedom. Moreover, its reusable workflows enable design automation, significantly enhancing efficiency.

△ Optimized aerospace bracket workflow using nTopology software