IP Protection Standard in Printed Board Manufacturing Released

IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries has released IPC-1071, Best Industry Practices for Intellectual Property Protection in Printed Board Manufacturing. The standard assists printed board manufacturers in the development of requirements for the protection of intellectual property (IP) for their customers in commercial, industrial, military and other high reliability markets.

"The importance of this standard to the industry is underscored by the number of prime OEMs and top tier commercial and military product manufacturers that participated in the development of the standard," said IPC Intellectual Property Committee co-chair Michael Moisan, Vice President of Technology, TTM Technologies.

Developed as a high level roadmap to best industry practices for printed board manufacturers, the IP standard addresses issues such as physical and information security, employee data access, computer networks, destruction of scrap material and other important issues. The standard focuses on protection of the inherent IP designed into the printed board, from the customer to the printed board manufacturer.

In addition to elevating best practices in protecting IP throughout the industry, and given the interest from both commercial and government sectors in protecting IP through supplier requirements and audits, IPC said the new standard will help the global electronics industry save money by developing a single standard to which companies can certify. "We believe that having one standard for the industry for intellectual property and using independent auditors will protect our customers and control cost of implementation," said Moisan.

The next step for IPC's Intellectual Property Committee is to develop an IP certification program for the industry. This topic will be the focus of the committee's next meeting on April 13, 2011, at IPC APEX EXPO in Las Vegas, USA. Individuals wishing to participate in the development of the industry's IP certification program must pre-register for the committee meeting at www.ipcapexexpo.org/register.

For more information or to purchase IPC-1071, visit www.ipc.org/1071 or contact Fern Abrams, IPC Director of Government Relations and Environmental Policy, at FernAbrams@ipc.org.

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