In the development of the Integrated circuit industry, Microcontroller Reverse Engineering behavior is common. This behavior is beneficial to designing integrated circuit products with the same basic functions but better performance, smaller size and lower cost.
The technological advancement of the integrated circuit industry does not unduly violate the principle of fair competition. Therefore, countries generally recognize the legitimacy of microcontroller reverse engineering behavior in the Integrated circuit protection law, which makes reverse engineering IC an important defense tools for integrated circuit copyright infringement.
Microcontroller Reverse Engineering Behavior
However, reverse engineering is method to dissipate and acquire the key technology of other designer (property owner). On the basis of this, the layout design obtained will inevitably contain the imitation and microcontroller copying of the prior layout design, so it is easy to be confused with the infringement, thus causing disputes.
Therefore, it is very necessary to make an accurate distinction between infringement and reverse engineering behavior. On the one hand, it helps to protect the legal rights of the owner of the layout design, avoids the infringer’s use of reverse engineering IC as a defense tool to escape legal sanctions, and on the other hand enables the person implementing reverse engineering to correctly assess the legal risk of his behavior. To understand whether it is possible to suspect infringement litigation and how to circumvent it, so that the integrated circuit industry will develop in a healthy and orderly direction.
On the basis of introducing the basic knowledge of integrated circuit, circuitry layout design and MCU reverse engineering, the article focuses on the judgment standard of integrated circuit infringement and the judgment standard of microcontroller reverse engineering behavior, thus clarifying the relationship between infringement and reverse engineering behavior.