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If you assigned engineers to disassemble your competitor's product to figure out how it worked, you would put yourself at grave risk of patent suits if you let
by caskance 11y ago
If you assigned engineers to disassemble your competitor's product to figure out how it worked, you would put yourself at grave risk of patent suits if you let them use that knowledge in any way in developing your own products. There's a reason clean room design is used. With something mechanical like an engine, that means reverse engineering is probably not helpful enough to be worth doing.
- edge17 11y agoWhile I understand your point, this does still happen with competitors products.
- kuschku 11y agoNo? The ECJ (European Court of Justice) even referred to the "Standard practice of disassembling competitors cars and using the gained knowledge in your own cars" while making a landmark decision that declared the right for decompiling non-negotiable.
- nradov 11y agoOne of my relatives worked for decades in the cost estimation department of a major auto manufacturer. They disassembled every competing vehicle to obtain competitive intelligence on profit margins and assembly techniques. Everyone does this.
- janfoeh 11y agoIf anybody is interested in this kind of thing, here is an hour-long talk with a freelance analyst who disassembled the BMW i3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDr4L6BzpP8&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDr4L6BzpP8&feature=youtu.be His agency is selling that report for $500,000. I found the whole thing quite fascinating.
- jacquesm 11y agoI'd love to read that report. There are a few close ups of pages in the video. That guy has one of the most interesting jobs!
- janfoeh 11y agoWouldn't a report like this have a limited shelf life? Maybe we get lucky and they decide to release it some time when it's not marketable anymore…