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I have no knowledge of IP law and maybe I misunderstood the article, but how do companies like ARM, who license there designs to other chip companies, protect t
by shamoo 6y ago
I have no knowledge of IP law and maybe I misunderstood the article, but how do companies like ARM, who license there designs to other chip companies, protect their designs from being copied? What's stopping the licensee from seeing the "publication" (as per the article) of the design, manufacturing the chip themselves, and not renewing the license/ needing the license in the future?
- Gaelan 6y agoCouldn’t that just be a stipulation in the contract?
- lopmotr 6y agoTurns out it's done by a lot of hard work rather than passively collecting rent: "Partnerships with large OEMs operate as signals that also generate barriers to imitation. As pointed out by one of our informants: “If a company like Samsung or TI is licensing from us, this means it may be difficult to develop our technology.” Multiple licenses create a psychological barrier to entry. In addition, the IP that is licensed needs to be complemented by ARM’s customer services and considerable expertise" from p22 of here https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/uploads/Research/CTM/working_paper/2015-02-Ferriani-Garnsey-Lorenzoni-Massa.pdf https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/uploads/Research/CTM/working_p... So I suppose somebody could make an ARM clone but they'd have to actually do it. An actual licensee would surely be prohibited by the license though.