Hi
It might seem a bit dumb, what are the ways to protect a circuit from
being copied by others?
In both low quantity and industrial scale.
Answers are appreciated.
Cheers
Faramarz
Andy comments:
Practically impossible to prevent copying a circuit design UNLESS
you are able to prove that nothing like it has ever existed in the
public domain.
For many years, I was on the "patent review committee" for one of
the planet's largest electronics corporations, and we got dozens of
patent applications every week for some new "thingy or other". Well
over 90% were simply "inventions" submitted by engineers, in good
faith, who were unaware that their idea had already been written
about,
published, or patented in some publication that they weren't aware of.
In such a case, we wouldn't spend the time or money for the company
trying to get a patent that couldn't be defended....
That isn't a bad reflection on the brilliance of the engineer....
only an
acknowledgement that there are a LOT of brilliant engineers out there,
and
somebody else did it first, and published it...
Being said, if you really really really think you have done
something that
hasn't been done before, search the patent archives, and do a "google"
on
the subject, and earnestly try to find out if somebody has had the
same
idea and if anything exists in the "public domain" ( i.e. written down
ANYWHERE
where it can be found) before you go to any more trouble.
Good luck on your efforts,
Andy in Eureka, Texas W4OAH