Basic Reverse Engineering
May 10, 2011
Attorneys, Copyright ©, Patents, Trade Marks ™ ®
Reverse engineering is a term used to describe the process of getting information about the technical details of a human created device or system by analysing the structure and operation of the item. Reverse engineering can involve the dismantlement of an item and investigating each aspect of the components.
The purpose is simply to once an understanding is gained about the item to create a better or more simplified alternative to the original item.
Reverse engineering is not new. People have always taken inventions apart and studied them with the aim of improving on the inventions. In some forms reverse engineering is illegal and a form of technology theft. Countries, however, have taken apart weapons from opposition for the simple reason – to build better weaponry than that of the enemy.
Today reverse engineering forms almost an integral part of business and development. From computer software to toys are scrutinized in detail to learn how such work and how to create improved products.
Main reasons for using reverse engineering include:
- Finding a solution to a mechanical problem.
- When the documentation of how a circuit has been built is lost, reverse engineering may be the only option.
- Identification of the possibility of patent infringement by a competitor.
- To use the information for improving on a competitor’s products.
- Auditing of the security in the program.
- Harvesting of items.
- Learning from the mistakes of others.
Reverse engineering can be applied to protocols, military weapons, computer aided design programs, software applications, binary codes, and any item created by a human.
View our range of services regarding infringement and litigation and contact us at Smit & Van Wyk Intellectual Property Lawyers for legal advice and assistance today.
Patent Lawyers | New Inventions
September 28, 2009
Patents
If you are an inventor and you have a new invention that you would like to patent, then the safest way of going about obtaining that patent is to make use of patent lawyers.
Patent lawyers, or patent attorneys as they are called in South Africa, have passed examinations in Intellectual Property Law and have qualified for membership of the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law, and being members, are bound by a code of ethics that is administered by the Council of the Institute.
Patent lawyers must have an engineering or a science degree as well as their law degree, since this is an absolute necessity for the understanding of the technical drawings that must accompany any patent application.
6 EASY STEPS to – Patent your Invention – Click here!
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Discovering a Trade Secret
June 24, 2009
Trade Secrets
Companies often try to discover one another’s trade secrets through lawful methods of reverse engineering on one hand, and potentially unlawful methods including industrial espionage on the other.
Acts of industrial espionage are generally illegal in their own right under the relevant governing laws. The importance of that illegality to trade secret law is as follows: if a trade secret is acquired by improper means (a somewhat wider concept than “illegal means” but inclusive of such means), the secret is generally deemed to have been misappropriated.
Thus if a trade secret has been acquired via industrial espionage, its acquirer will probably be subject to legal liability for acquiring it improperly.
