First IPC Standard on Intellectual Property Protection in Printed Board Manufacturing ReleasedIPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® has released IPC-1071, Best Industry Practices for In

IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® has released IPC-1071, Best Industry Practices for Intellectual Property Protection in Printed Board Manufacturing, to assist printed board manufacturers in the development of requirements for the protection of intellectual property (IP) for their customers in commercial, industrial, military and other high reliability markets.

"The importance of this standard to the industry is underscored by the number of prime OEMs and top tier commercial and military product manufacturers that participated in the development of the standard," said IPC Intellectual Property Committee co-chair Michael Moisan, vice president of technology, TTM Technologies.

Developed as a high-level roadmap to best industry practices for printed board manufacturers, the IP standard addresses issues such as physical and information security, employee data access, computer networks, destruction of scrap material and other important issues. The standard focuses on protection of the inherent IP designed into the printed board, from the customer to the printed board manufacturer.

In addition to elevating best practices in protecting IP throughout the industry, and given the interest from both commercial and government sectors in protecting IP through supplier requirements and audits, the new standard will help the global electronics industry save money by developing a single standard to which companies can certify. “We believe that having one standard for the industry for intellectual property and using independent auditors will protect our customers and control cost of implementation,” said Moisan.

The next step for IPC’s Intellectual Property Committee is to develop an IP certification program for the industry. This topic will be the focus of the committee’s next meeting at 10:00 am on Wednesday, April 13, 2011, at IPC APEX EXPO in Las Vegas. Individuals wishing to participate in the development of the industry’s IP certification program must pre-register for the committee meeting at http://www.ipcapexexpo.org/register. A free Exhibits-Only registration will give participants access to open standards development meetings as well as the IPC APEX EXPO exhibition and other free activities at the event, including a free BUZZ session, Best Practices for Intellectual Property Protection in Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing. The BUZZ session will be held on Wednesday, April 13, 1:30 pm–3:30 pm. Representatives of leading commercial and defense OEMs and PCB manufacturers will discuss best practices for protecting IP, as specified in IPC-1071.

IPC members may request a free single-user download of IPC-1071 by sending an e-mail to MemberTechRequests@ipc.org within 90 days of the document’s publication date. After that date, IPC members may purchase the standard for $26. The nonmember price is $52. For more information or to purchase IPC-1071, visit http://www.ipc.org/1071 or contact Fern Abrams, IPC director of government relations and environmental policy, at FernAbrams@ipc.org or +1 703-522-0225.

IPC (www.IPC.org) is a global trade association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 2,700 member companies which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $1.85 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Arlington, Va.; Garden Grove, Calif.; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; Bangalore, India; and Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, China.