At 10:31 PM 9/5/2005, Alfonso Baz wrote:
I am a little confused and concerned. If you send just the PCB file how is your IP in danger. Unless you send the PCB file with a name like "DirtToGoldConverterModule.pcb" How would they know what the board does, let alone undergo the massive task of reverse engineering the PCB to come up with a schematic, and if you have programmable parts...
Programmable parts would be a problem to the pirate, for sure. But without those, I'll point out that a PCB contains the schematic, the "Schematic" is a visual presentation for ease of understanding and can be recreated from the PCB without any error. In fact, I've done this for a company where they had a printed schematic and films, but no files. In the process, I found several schematic errors: the printed schematic was incorrect....
Consider how a pirated board might be used. A corrupt employee of the fabricator knows the name of the company ordering the board. He looks up competitors to this company and, through anonymous means, attempts to find a buyer for the IP. At the very least, the PCB file (even with programmable parts) could reveal the technologies being used by the original company.
It is not terribly likely, but also not inconceivable. I've done PCBs where the very shapes (and especially their sizes) involved in the PCB could have been highly useful to a competitor in anticipating the companies progress.
However, if the PCB is ordered through an intermediary, such as a design service, a connection between the PCB design and the competitors, present or potential, becomes quite remote.
If the entire Protel file, including schematic and other files, is sent, one might as well open the doors and let everyone in. If you don't mind unannounced visitors peering through your stuff, not a problem....
Stripping the part information from the PCB file takes seconds with global edits, it would seem to be a reasonable precaution if one is going to send that file to fab; but I prefer to send Gerbers anyway, and a number of good reasons for doing so have been mentioned....
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