While patent laws protect design concepts in the traditional manufacturing model, additive manufacturing is not so clear-cut. The legal question becomes, "Who really owns the design of a part that is printed?". And regarding counterfeiting of parts, the technology of additive manufacturing makes reverse engineering an unnecessary step, thereby easing the way for counterfeiters to do their work quickly and more efficiently. Add to that the very real concern about the structural integrity of objects produced by additive manufacturing methods, and you can see that counterfeit parts produced in this way may result in catastrophic failure, and, depending on the use of the object, even potentially loss of life.