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FEATURES

IP Protection
Royalty Treatment
A patent is a time-limited monopoly granted by the federal government to inventors. A patent encourages innovation by giving a patent owner exclusive rights to his or her invention. On the surface, a patent is a fairly simple concept. It protects an invention. However, just as designing, engineering and manufacturing a product is a complex process fraught with potential risks, a patent is much more than simply protection for an invention.
by Kathlene Ingham

On the Web
‘No One Knows Design Like the Designer’
Experience shows perhaps one out of 20 designs has a hitch where the Gerbers aren’t outputted how they are supposed to be. A free CAM tool compares the nets against the IPC netlist file, to ensure CAM that the Gerber will load and any errors caught.
by Mike Buetow

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  EMS showing its age?
  Mike Buetow
  
  
  

MONEY MATTERS

• ROI
  A sporting chance.
  Peter Bigelow

TECH TALK

• On the Forefront
  ECTC highlights.
  E. Jan Vardaman

• Signal Integrity Insights
  How current flows.
  Dr. Eric Bogatin

• Designer’s Notebook
  FPGA design.
  Frank Smetana

• Final Finishes
  The trouble with gold.
  Lenora Toscano

• The Flexperts
  Flex circuit reliability.
  Mark Finstad

• Technical Abstracts
  In case you missed it.