> A chip provides every form of IP protection, all four forms, trade secret, copyright, patent, n even trademark. No other medium has that to my knowledge. IAN

> A chip provides every form of IP protection, all four forms, trade secret, copyright, patent, n even trademark. No other medium has that to my knowledge. IANAL, but I do not believe semiconductor masks are copyrightable under US law (my limited understanding is that there is essentially due to the fact that the mask is inherently functional and/or aspects of the merger doctrine). There is a separate sui generis mask work protection via 17 U.S.C. §§ 901-914. Edit: Moreover, I'm unsure how you figure a chip itself is protected by trade secret, since reverse engineering an IC is not terribly difficult.