The contamination of electronic component supply chains by counterfeit hardware devices is a serious and growing risk in today's globalized marketplace. Copying and counterfeiting devices can occur at different levels. Re-marking is a low-technology technique of counterfeiting a device and accounts for the bulk of the counterfeits detected. In a typical re-marking attack, a device's product markings are misrepresented by replacing the original identification markings with new identification markings indicating a higher specification or higher value part. Such a device, if embedded in an electronic product or system, may fail in the field when subjected to an operational environment for which the original part was not designed. Device failures can lead to the decreased reputation of the device manufacturer. Other counterfeiting techniques can include attempts to clone a device, for example, by copying a fabrication mask or by reverse engineering a device. In these instances, counterfeiters could profit from a remarked device or from a chip design via the unauthorized sale of the cloned chip. Thus, profit margins for legitimate manufacturers of such devices could be detrimentally affected. Additionally, the risk of counterfeit products entering the supply chain generally increase when devices suffer supply shortfalls or have production terminated by the manufacturer. Thus, more effective techniques are needed to protect against unauthorized copying and counterfeiting of hardware devices.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds