Are you getting all your IP on completion of your project/design?
The data and information necessary to guarantee ownership and transferability of new product IP is so complex that it is easy for clients to find themselves without this data via either omission or even commission error on the part of the product designers/companies. Withholding this information was/is very common among Chinese companies, but it is also alarmingly still evident among the less scrupulous UK suppliers too. Clients become trapped because they don’t have the data they need to transfer to alternative resources when quality or performance dictates that they should.
It is often not malice that precipitates this. Designers lose records after long periods of time, or sometimes it is simply a case of a company disappearing.
Projects are typically made up of mechanics, electronics, and software/firmware. Below is an overview of the minimum information a client should hold and own at the completion of a project – all information must be of latest release. (not an exhaustive list):
- Electronics schematics – circuit diagrams for every electronic circuit.
- A copy of the electronics design project file so that designs can be updated. This will be in software like Altium or Cadence.
- The electronics manufacturing pack. This allows the client to manufacture but not re-design or update. The following are the minimum requirements:
- CAD files for manufacture of PCBs. There are alternative formats for these but they will be something like gerbers, nc-drilling files, pick and place data file, PCB specification (special details), cu weights, etc.
- BoM – bill of materials for all electronic components
- Firmware and software (object and source code). The object code is the computer file that is loaded into the electronics to make it run, and the source code is the readable document (to a programmer) that defines the computer program.
- Design and manufacture files for mechanics – including design drawings.
- Assembly drawings where needed.
- Project file for mechanics that will be in software such as Solid Works.
- Mechanical BoM – bill of materials.
There is a lot of supplementary data too, but it is sometimes possible to make do without this – or re-develop it. Things like state and flow diagrams for software leap to mind. The list above is an overview.
If you need some help with a given situation please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.
