Why Do CAD Data Need to Be Protected? Beware of the Risks.

Both a manufacturing enterprise and a freelance designer have to rely on various programs when making a brand new product. Mostly all of the work is carried out through Computer-Aided Design or CAD programs.

But maintaining control over your CAD data and keeping your IP safe when sharing it is a challenge. This is especially crucial in our digital world when information is exchanged daily.
Upon completing a certain design project one needs to send it to a manufacturer, who is most likely located in India or China. And let’s face it: IP protection laws in these countries need a lot of improvement.

One way to solve this problem is to collaborate with local parties only, but it is not always possible, and it doesn’t guarantee that they do not outsource their manufacturing needs elsewhere.

So the moment when your file ends up in the wrong hands — it is lost. And you never know how your data leaked. It might be due to human error, as one might accidentally send your data to the wrong address; it might happen because of your contractor being careless and not paying enough attention to such “small” details as network security or if your employee was headhunted by a competitor.

Look at these stats

A whopping 50 percent of data loss incidents happen due to people’s mistakes as Kaspersky and Netwrix found out.

IP-losses due to third parties are very common even among well-known and thought-to-be protected companies.

Also, employee mobility may be a serious threat to your intellectual property, and as hard facts tell the story, it doesn’t always matter whether you and an employee of yours parted ways on good terms or not.

So there is a substantial chance that your new design and your IP might be used by others to create counterfeit products by simply changing a letter or an insignificant detail. This is not pleasant at all, not to mention the amount of money lost.

On the other hand, not sharing your CAD files is impossible, as it prevents you from actually doing business.

So, to be able to stay the rightful owner of all your CAD files and receive all the benefits from making a product, one should have the ability to prove the IP ownership.

Is it possible to securely cooperate and collaborate worldwide while preserving your IP?

CADChain aims to develop an easy-to-use innovative tool that will prevent your IP loss via blockchain technology. The ownership data registered on the blockchain is unerasable and kept forever due to the immutability of the blockchain. Thus, even if the CAD files are stolen, you will be able to preserve your IP legally.

What’s even more important is that in many instances, currently there is no legal way to protect a CAD file, due to limitations and inconsistencies of IP systems all over the world.

But there is a way to communicate with manufacturers almost anywhere in the world by using our software-based contract system without the cost of traditional negotiations with lawyers that can incur up to €15.000 of legal fees due to the contractual requirements in countries like China.

And if smart legal contracts are used, this cost will be substantially reduced, making it possible to produce large quantities of goods without risking a loss of IP.

We at CADChain know not only Why one should protect their CAD files, but also the How to do so.

We want to enable fully traceable CAD asset management to help companies, big and small, to protect and monetize their data. Our goal is to protect businesses against malicious production, unfair competition, and loss of intellectual property, thus increasing customer safety and ensuring accountability for all actors in the supply chain.

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