Help! Ive been circuit-napped!

[Megamox]

I usually do alot of my prototype work on breadboards and im pretty sure one of the companies i sent out a sample to, has basically cracked it open copied the design, and now they're reselling it as their own!!

Any idea's how to stop this happening again?

I was thinking spray paint over the components making them harder to identify

Appreciate any idea's

Megamox

 

[chemelec]

First, Don't ever send out Proto's to Companies!

No Matter What you do, They will Find a way to Copy it.
Ever heard of Xrays?

Possibly Send them a letter, somewhat Explaining it and Asking them if there interesed in it.

If its Really Valuable Technology, Copyright or Patent it, Before Disclosing it.

**OR**

DEFINATELY Demand a "No-Disclosure" agreement from them.
You WILL Need a Lawyer to do this properly.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Unless you've got a bottomless bank account there's not a great deal you can do - unless you have the resources to fight in court you don't stand much of a chance.

As suggested, don't send working prototypes out to companies!.

As a matter of interest, what was the device?, and how complicated was it?.

 

[Megamox]

Well the company approached me, saying they needed a paging system so that any employee away from their desk was alerted when they're particular extension recieved an incoming call and they were away from their desk. So i had a system that just counted the unanswered phone rings and then put the incoming call on hold, dialed out on a free line and connected the audio.

Now they are reselling it and make it sound like its the best thing since sliced bread! I bet they dont even understand how it works. God help them if they ask me for tech support!!

Just thought that perhaps i could make it much more difficult for anyone to make copies blindly.

Ps. Im not really sure what valuable technology is, my designs are valuable to me because i do know i worked out the design myself and didnt just rip it from somewhere else. Oh and i raided the bottomless bank account years ago!

Megamox

 

[Styx]

Are you sur ethey ripped YOUR design?
They could of asked someone else (or a few designers) to come up the same thing and basically have you all fighting (be it unknown to each of the "contenders") for the best design.

Your's just might not of met one of the criteriea, prolly cost.
It might sound sus, but remeber you say you dont have alot to take the comp to court, but do they know that? also they do not know how much info you stored and ensured that you can prove dates (for copyright)

 

[Megamox]

Well its funny, their entire sales pitch for the product, is, word for word, the one i gave them when i sold them my prototype. So they stole my sales pitch for it too !!

Thats probably one of the reasons im so sure they fabricated copies of mine and nobody elses, but who knows.

Im not bitter, and ill put it down to a learning experience, but i would like to protect my idea's a little more in future. Its not like i made it easy, i did encase everything permanently in plastic. But i guess i can do more, like the spray paint over the component surfaces to make them difficult to identify. 8)

Megamox

 

[spuffock]

If a reed switch has 4 magnets stuck to it with epoxy such that the fields cancel and the reed stays open, then it can be connected to a suitable small charge and a battery and potted with the circuitry. If the unit is unpotted, one magnet falls off first....BANG!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

If a reed switch has 4 magnets stuck to it with epoxy such that the fields cancel and the reed stays open, then it can be connected to a suitable small charge and a battery and potted with the circuitry. If the unit is unpotted, one magnet falls off first....BANG!

Nice idea, but NOT a solution for use in the UK :lol:

 

[spuffock]

The idea is to get the miscreant to believe that he MIGHT lose a hand.....

 

[Styx]

The idea is to get the miscreant to believe that he MIGHT lose a hand.....

And that is illegal

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

The idea is to get the miscreant to believe that he MIGHT lose a hand.....

As Styx says, it's illegal - in the UK you would almost certainly get jailed for such an offence!.

 

[Megamox]

What if i used a glue gun and just encase the top component side in the glue so that the components cant be removed and measured? That wont affect the circuit's performance because its an insulator right?

Megamox

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

What if i used a glue gun and just encase the top component side in the glue so that the components cant be removed and measured? That wont affect the circuit's performance because its an insulator right?

Yes, hot-melt glue is fine on components, it's often used to stop components (like transformers) whistling.

You could always use potting compound, that's even harder to remove.

 

[spuffock]

Rumour has it that I MIGHT have included a nasty anti-tamper device.
It is well known that I was involved with explosives in my younger days.
You can find out how to make a whole range of chemical nasties on the net.
would YOU take one of my prototypes apart?
Illegal? Go on-arrest me.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Rumour has it that I MIGHT have included a nasty anti-tamper device.
It is well known that I was involved with explosives in my younger days.
You can find out how to make a whole range of chemical nasties on the net.
would YOU take one of my prototypes apart?
Illegal? Go on-arrest me.

Let's just hope there's no UK police reading this site?, there's probably enough there to make an arrest stick in the UK?.

 

[spuffock]

i'm waiting. The police station is only next door.

 

[Megamox]

Im just looking at Glue guns on the net, and theres a range, from 5W all the way upto 80W. Dont wanna get something thats gonna damage the components, any suggestions on which i should try out?

Megamox

 

[Someone Electro]

puting thw whole thing in hot glue shod work.I dint think its hot enugh to damage the componets.You cod also add a layer of alu foil on each side to keep the cirucit form being visible and to protect a bit from x-ray picturing it.High power x-ray machines can scan trough metal but they are very rare.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Im just looking at Glue guns on the net, and theres a range, from 5W all the way upto 80W. Dont wanna get something thats gonna damage the components, any suggestions on which i should try out?

Doesn't really matter, they all operate at the same sort of temperature, the bigger ones warm up faster though, and will produce more melted glue quicker as well.

 

[JimB]

...when i sold them my prototype.

I think that you may be suffering from a bit of "commercial naivety".

If they approached you to do a design for them and they paid for it, it could be argued that it now belongs to them.

I dont know that contractual arrangements you had with this company, but if you have a good "paper trail" of the discussions/negotiations, it may well be worth having a word with a suitably experienced lawyer. He may be able to put "the frighteners on them" and you may get paid what the job is worth.

JimB