It is difficult at best to determine the origin of manufacture for many electronic devices. Integrated circuits, transistors, and even passive components like capacitors, are packaged to established universal standards, and look similar even if they are counterfeit. And, although the problem of intellectual property theft has always been around, it is getting worse, and threatens our security. It is one thing to buy an electronic gadget that fails, and quite another for security systems that do not protect us as designed. In the former case, the reputation of the company is at stake, but in the latter, the safety of all of us is at stake.
We have always been a creative country and as the 20th century started, we began to see how fast technology can change. Our patent system was created to protect the inventor for some number of years, but also, the patent was always required to teach others how the content of the patent worked, but also be able to learn from the material. But, the patent could not be infringed upon until the 17 or so years of protection had expired. But, international law and patent protection means little to countries that allow, even tacitly, the laws to be broken. And, the US is not the only country to be victimized. So, we see a flood of counterfeit products that have the ability to fail and cause serious problems. I ran across an article that focuses on China as a "lawless" violator, but there are others as well. But, since we have had our electronic products manufactured there, we are open to theft and inferior products. Please read the article in Business Insider by Michael Kelley and the spirited debate in the comments section. As always, there are two side or more with any issue. Here. Now I have to check my inventory of parts...
We have always been a creative country and as the 20th century started, we began to see how fast technology can change. Our patent system was created to protect the inventor for some number of years, but also, the patent was always required to teach others how the content of the patent worked, but also be able to learn from the material. But, the patent could not be infringed upon until the 17 or so years of protection had expired. But, international law and patent protection means little to countries that allow, even tacitly, the laws to be broken. And, the US is not the only country to be victimized. So, we see a flood of counterfeit products that have the ability to fail and cause serious problems. I ran across an article that focuses on China as a "lawless" violator, but there are others as well. But, since we have had our electronic products manufactured there, we are open to theft and inferior products. Please read the article in Business Insider by Michael Kelley and the spirited debate in the comments section. As always, there are two side or more with any issue. Here. Now I have to check my inventory of parts...
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