Design for protection: Systematic approach to prevent product piracy during product development using AM

Although infringements of intellectual properties in terms of product piracy are growing for years and threaten investments in research and development most companies still rely on legal measures like property rights. A more preventive effect to protect against counterfeits can be achieved using technical measures complicating reverse engineering, improving traceability and assuring data protection. Additive Manufacturing can contribute a lot to the effectivity and efficiency of those technical measures but presently they are often unconsidered during product development. To support decision makers and designers through all the steps of a product development process an integrated systematic approach has been developed. Protective measures using AM are allocated to specific process steps and responsible persons in charge so that the result is a guideline for “design for protection”. The main idea is to help developing piracy-robust products for that the return of investment is not threatened by counterfeits and its economical impacts.