Some kind of bull....
The evaluators sitting in the USPO must me taking stupid pills every morning in stead of vitamins to grant a patent for this.
I have seen high definition 3D printers being used by one F1-Formula car manufacturer for making masters for investment steel casting. One example being a very complicated inlet manifold. . To start with these designs are well kept secrets. Same can be said for any short run precision casting process. What about making a replacement part for an item that is no longer being manufactured / serviced / parts made available for. Apart from prototyping or very short manufacturing runs this in fact is most likely scenario for 3D printing.
