Accordion lovers know: the best accordions come from Italy. Casper Burkhardt has been the Dutch importer for accordion builder Pigini and repairer of their world famous accordions since 2001. A few years ago he wondered if he could make a cheaper accordion, which also sounds good. The answer was ‘yes’: a largely 3D-printed accordion, which comes out of the printer at the touch of a button.

With the 3D printing of accordions, Burkhardt found himself in completely new territory. In his search for information and inspiration, he knocked on the door of patent centre Netherlands. Together with one of their patent advisors, he searched for the answers to questions such as:

• How have other people applied similar techniques?
• What can we learn from this?
• How do you make sure that your product is better than that of the competitor?