General > General Technical Chat

Why do companies try to take patents out on standard schematics?

<< < (10/16) > >>

LaserSteve:
At the same place mentioned a few posts back, I sent a document to our partner company, a large defense contractor. I placed the words "Corporate Confidential" in the document's data block per company policy.  Since I had the word "Confidential " in that block I created a security headache for them. Confidential at the time was one of three lower levels of the basic US  Government Secrecy Program at the time.  I had inadvertently created a classified document without proper nomenclature by merely emailing a schematic.

   Their Corporate VP of Security was on the phone to me in under thirty minutes. I received an ass chewing of inordinate magnitude until he realized I had not been briefed on such things.  This triggered a trip to their plant for a serious lecture  by the plant security officer. All of this over a civilian product. Finally they did the background checks so I could be an un-escourted visitor at the plant and bring documents over. Driving the documents over, 40 minutes each way, canceled the automated  email screening and made things easier for them.

They, being one of two major employers in a small town in the middle of nowhere, also asked the local PD to informally take a look at my lifestyle.  Nothing there to find, anyways. What made me mad was small town  PD asking my landlord to let them  take a look at my apartment.  The scary part was said landlord, also a corporate employee, was more then happy to let them in.

After all I was an outsider in a little town in middle America whose major employers were two defense contractors surrounded by the Amish for miles.

For some things such security is needed.  But not for what I was working on at the time.

I have to laugh about this, for afterwords I was working on actual government projects with a fraction of the hassle and harassment.  With far more professional security folks.

Steve

Cerebus:

--- Quote from: LaserSteve on November 07, 2021, 02:29:37 pm ---At the same place mentioned a few posts back, I sent a document to our partner company, a large defense contractor. I placed the words "Corporate Confidential" in the document's data block per company policy.  Since I had the word "Confidential " in that block I created a security headache for them. Confidential at the time was one of three lower levels of the basic US  Government Secrecy Program at the time.  I had inadvertently created a classified document without proper nomenclature by merely emailing a schematic.

--- End quote ---

Except you hadn't, no matter what some bonehead said. Unless you had actual formal authority to classify a document; I think you'd know if you had been "specifically authorized in writing by the President, the Agency Head, or the Senior Agency Official [to] classify documents originally" as the official rules provide. Any old person putting "confidential", "secret" or "top secret" onto something doesn't make it officially so (kind of obvious really) - otherwise the entire population of teachers in the US would be jail for unauthorised access to classified information, because what small boy hasn't written "top secret" on his school workbook at some point.


You should probably sic some ambulance chaser onto that landlord and local PD, got to be worth a few thousand at least.  :)

coppercone2:
that sounds like a corrupt mining town from the 50's

that's what I call an excuse to investigate something someone found suspicious under the lightest cause. more then likely it happens alot but there is no cross communication between employees (i.e. someone felt the background check is just not good enough for their claws)

Until a document is fully authorized by at least he entire management chain of the department the whole explanation they gave you is a bunch of garbage . the comic book would be called fantastic horse shit vol 4

GopherT:
I don't think it is a question of paranoia, it is about efficiency and accountability.  If two engineers are assigned to build a bog-simple circuit, the company doesn't need "loads of engineers" putting eyes on it. The two engineers should be given remedial training, and mentoring if they have trouble with "bog simple" circuits. The cost of putting a circuit on copper is dropping so low that a fast failure is cheaper than an an endless review and error check.

Finally, when "loads of engineers" review a circuit, blame is diluted, root causes (or substandard employees) cannot be identified and the wasted time becomes a culture of mediocracy. 

If you are the one asking to see someone else's circuit, you need more projects of your own.
If you want "loads of other engineers" to review your circuit, you may be the root cause of sub-par performance.

SiliconWizard:

--- Quote from: Faringdon on November 06, 2021, 09:41:52 pm ---Being worried about the “standard electronics” designs being copied is futile…..because after all, the Chinese are the masters of Electronics now anyway….so whatever “standard electronics” a western company can do, the Chinese can do it better…...so the British (western) electronics companies would benefit by employing loads of different electronics engineers and letting them all see their “standard electronics” designs…….
(...)
This is not anti-China….the Chinese are totally honorable people. The Chinese have become “1st world” without invading other countries….the Chinese are superb decent people.

--- End quote ---

So, this is an "interesting" shift here from your older position. It was all kind of how bad things were and how bad people subcontracting/buying from chinese companies were. And how it destroyed our industry. Now you seem to have become all enamored with what was once a threat. You're maybe looking for a job? :P

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod