How to protect the intellectual property of your design model
In today's fiercely competitive and interconnected landscape, safeguarding the intellectual property of your design models is no longer a luxury but a necessity. When sharing data with partners like subcontractors, clients, and suppliers, how do you ensure robust protection of your intellectual assets? Traditional Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions fall short in this sphere. Fortunately, there are bespoke strategies to safeguard your invaluable property. Explore the varied levels of IP protection available during CAD data exchange, from converting your parametric models to offering limited web-based visualization access.
The focus of this article is primarily on 3D CAD models, and we will discuss the various levels of protection available for intellectual property during CAD data exchange.
- Level 1: Convert your parametric model and remove all expressions and formulas. Replace sensitive parametric features with non-parametric features. This can be achieved through the use of software such as Proficiency, which provides an automatic solution to exchange parametric models with this level of IP protection.
- Level 2: Convert your native model to a neutral BREP format such as STEP or IGES. In this format, only precise geometry is shared, and all parametric features are removed. The recipient cannot modify the model, but all initial geometry is visible, and users will be able to build new models from this geometry. Retro-engineering is also possible.
- Level 3: Convert your model to a facetted format. In this format, tesselated geometry prevents the reuse of geometry and retro-engineering. Only visualization measurement and sectioning are possible.
- Level 4: Simplify your model before converting it to BREP or facetted geometry. Non-visible, tiny details like holes, chamfers, or fillets are removed. Complex shapes can be replaced by bounding boxes or wraps, also known as convex hulls.
- Level 5: No geometry is transmitted. The owner only provides access to the model only through a web-based CAD viewer for a limited period.
In conclusion, protecting the intellectual property of your design model is crucial when sharing data with partners in a CAD collaborative project. It is essential to use robust solutions such as the ones mentioned above to ensure that your sensitive information is secure and not misused or copied by unauthorized recipients. By taking the necessary precautions and implementing effective solutions, you can safeguard your intellectual property and avoid potential losses in revenue and market share.
In an industrial world where multi-CAD collaboration has become essential, companies face a major challenge: how to effectively share 3D models while protecting their know-how? The answer lies in parametric conversion with preservation of the construction history, an approach that revolutionizes CAD interoperability by combining efficiency and intellectual security.
According to recent studies, engineers spend up to 30% of their time rebuilding CAD models, a time-consuming task that slows down innovation. Intelligent parametric conversion not only reduces this time to less than 10% but also offers precise control over sensitive information shared with your partners.
In today's industrial world, each CAD model represents far more than a simple digital file - it embodies years of R&D, valuable innovations, and tangible competitive advantage. Yet, 68% of manufacturing companies admit to exchanging these sensitive data daily via unsecured methods like emails or FTP. This vulnerability has led to a 35% increase in intellectual property theft in the industrial sector over the past five years, representing estimated losses of several billion euros.
Facing these critical challenges, the ability to reconcile efficient technical exchanges with rigorous protection of intellectual property has become a strategic imperative for any innovative company.
The rise of cyber threats and the growth of remote work are forcing industrial companies to rethink their CAD data sharing strategies. How can you collaborate effectively without compromising intellectual property? Traditional file exchange methods expose your designs to major risks of leakage and unauthorized use. A new approach is needed: secure visualization without transmitting source files.
Discover how advanced visualization solutions now allow you to share complex 3D models without ever exposing your raw data, while preserving the analysis and collaboration features essential to your teams.
In today's manufacturing industry, protecting technical data represents a major strategic challenge. CAD models contain the intellectual DNA of industrial companies: design methods, technical know-how, and proprietary innovations. Each uncontrolled sharing of these models represents a potential risk of exposing intellectual property valued at several million euros. Facing this challenge, one approach is emerging as an effective solution: CAD simplification.
Simplification of 3D models allows sharing only strictly necessary information while masking sensitive design elements. This method, unlike traditional approaches based solely on confidentiality agreements, offers concrete technical protection against reverse engineering and unauthorized exploitation of designs.
