IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announced the release of a report on best practices in intellectual property (IP) protection for printed boards in both commercial and military applications. The report, Best North American Industry Practices to Protect IP, was developed in cooperation with the IPC Executive Agent (EA) Task Force and was submitted to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for review. In the report, IPC provides a detailed list of best IP protection practices being used by leading commercial and military printed board manufacturers in North America.

In recognition of the importance of printed boards to national security, Congress directed the DoD to develop a trusted-source program for printed boards. The program will help the DoD identify and qualify a network of trustworthy manufacturers of printed boards. IPC hopes that its IP report will help guide the DoD in developing an effective program that incorporates best industry practices for IP protection.

"Creating a trusted-source program for PCBs that does not add more bureaucratic layers to existing industry practices will avoid unnecessary increases of printed board manufacturers' compliance costs and DoD spending," explained Jim Fuller, vice president, PWB Engineering, Endicott Interconnect Technologies Inc.

"IP protection is very important in the electronics industry," said Patrick Muir, president of Muir Patent Consulting PLLC, and a presenter at IPC's upcoming Electronics Industry Executive Summit, October 21-22, 2009 in Scottsdale, Arizona. "Applying best practices to guard against IP theft can protect a company from devastating financial losses."

A copy of Best North American Industry Practices to Protect Intellectual Property is available free of charge to IPC members at www.ipc.org/Best-Practices-in-IP-Protection. For more information on the IPC Executive Agent Task Force, visit www.ipc.org/PCB-Competitiveness or contact Ron Charmin at +1 703-522-0225.

About IPC

IPC is a global trade association based in Bannockburn, Illinois, 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 $1.7 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, New Mexico; Arlington, Virginia; Garden Grove, California; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; and Shanghai and Shenzhen, China. For more information, visit www.ipc.org.

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