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Die package

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If you're going to try a business, probably best to try for something that bigger companies don't have a cheaper, better solution for. NIche market or something like that for something some people need.

Because no one is going to buy a die mounted on a small PCB when they could just buy the IC. Even a PCB with some discrete components on it...the unit is going on the customer's PCB anyways. They're going to have room (even save space) just using their PCB for the discrete components. The only real reason to do that is if you could get the die and the discrete components to be the same size as an IC (then it's a system-on-chip which you see floating around) Or think about it this way how much would you have to sell just to pay off the costs of the equipment?
 
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Well I certainly can't help you with your questions about how the semiconductor support industries work, but whatever you can learn is sure to help you in the future.

Keep in mind that there are various ways to try and protect your 'Intellectual Property' but most require quite a bit of expense and professional help. Of course there is the infamous patent process but that does take significant time and expense to undertake and must indeed be a 'new' idea as defined by the P office and subject to extensive search for prior art. Now just copyrighting a design drawing is a much simpler process but most likely more easily reverse engineered by anyone one really wanting to do so.

Good luck

Lefty
 
duffy said:
That board's plenty big for even a big chip, why do you need an exotic assembly technology?

I really don't need that, i mean surface mount will work just fine, but i was just under the impression that COB would be cheaper. But the larger quantities for them do make sense. I will use the surface mount design then. ;)

dknguyen said:
Because no one is going to buy a die mounted on a small PCB when they could just buy the IC

Well surely you don't think i'm just going to be selling the boards? :) Actually the boards will go in a piece of hardware as well, but i've already got that covered as far as i know.

Leftyretro said:
but whatever you can learn is sure to help you in the future.
Indeed it is, which is why i am trying to learn all i can. So thank you to everyone for putting up with me. :D

Leftyretro said:
Now just copyrighting a design drawing is a much simpler process but most likely more easily reverse engineered by anyone one really wanting to do so.
So how does the copyright process work? i will google it right now, but maybe a summary would suffice on the forum.
 
Unless this is a ground breaking product, then I would focus my energy on protecting my design rather than trying to patent it. Grind the part numbers off the chips or order them with your own custom part number. Pot the entire thing in something nasty. If it uses a microcontroller, use one that has good code protection technology.
To defend your patent, you'll need a lawyer and that can get expensive if a larger corporation with deep pockets rips you off. Patents can be fairly weak if someone can change the design slightly and still have a viable product that doesn't violate your patent at all.
 
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blueroomelectronics said:
Yep, you can also bury the whole thing in black epoxy.

Huh.


This brings me to another question, let's say if my idea required another product, for sake of example let's say a scissors. How do i find out what is legal or not? Could i use scissors from a company, without permission, modify it, and then sell it as my own? I would think i'd need permission from the scissors manufacture. Or what if i required a lamp for the product? Could i go to walmart, buy an off-the-shelf lamp, add some controller circuitry in it, and then call it my own?

That all just sounds unlikely to me. But then again, what if it is taken from the perspective of the scissors and lamp are both products, but so are microchip microcontrollers. We can use them freely, and then call the end results our own, so what is the verdict here?
 
If it's scizzors or a lamp, you could make your own with no worries - so long as you don't exactly copy it. If it was for something like a Segway, it wouldn't matter if yours looked different or not, you will get in trouble. The former would be a design patent, the latter a utility patent - very different.

But you can certainly buy scizzors from the manufacturer and use them in your product, if that's what you want to know.
 
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duffy said:
But you can certainly buy scizzors from the manufacturer and use them in your product, if that's what you want to know.

Yes that is what i wanted to know, but the other information is good, too.

So, i could buy a scissors or lamp off the shelf, add something to them, and then sell it as my own? without permission from the manufacture? What about the original manufacturer's logo on it? Something just tells me i'd need permission to remove that... Or would i have have to leave it in place, but could add my modifications to them?
 
Yes, that sort of thing is done all the time. Take the logo off if you want, it's not an issue. What the manufacturer cares about is that you bought their product.
 
Nigel Goodwin said:
It's been common practice for decades.
duffy said:
Yes, that sort of thing is done all the time. Take the logo off if you want, it's not an issue. What the manufacturer cares about is that you bought their product.

NO WAY! :eek: Haha! i was freaking out about this! :) thank you so much! :) :)
 
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