This paper addresses the problem of knowledge templates update in product development. A framework is developed to support template instances update process by providing a decision support system and an update strategy. An Issue-Based Information system is designed to allow the collaboration among various experts in order to solve template related problems. An ontology is used to represent and to reason on knowledge about templates, products and their relations. This allows the construction of an update sequence for the template's instances as it provides an efficient overview of relationships, even implicit ones. The proposed framework fills an actual gap concerning template updates, which slows down templates adoption for large scale industrial use.

With the growth of the knowledge-based economy, intellectual property right (IPR) is recognized as a key factor to develop and protect strategic competitiveness and innovation of an enterprise. The increasing degree of collaboration in global relationships, ubiquitous digital communication techniques as well as tough competition has lead to an increasing importance of intellectual property protection (IPP) for enterprises. Since the law as well as ethical principles are not always adhered to, there are increasingly activities outside legal understanding. This situation is exacerbated in the context of rising crime through the misuse of modern ICT technologies ("Cyber Crime") and now employs extensively state authorities. Piracy, counterfeits and unwanted know-how drain pose a significant problem for each market leader. Intellectual property is stored in product data too. Especially modern parametric and feature-based 3D-CAD systems have been enhanced towards acquiring, representing, processing and distributing knowledge to support knowledge-based engineering (KBE) within virtual product creation. However, it is very easy to exchange huge amounts of product data within a virtual enterprise that comprises an enterprise with its supplier network. There is an enormous threat that intellectual property could fall into the wrong hands and badly jeopardize the existence of the related company. This chapter contains an analysis of this conflict area, a picture of the legal framework, a discussion on the need for action in supply chain networks and attempts by research and development as well as best practices in industry for various aspects of IPP in the context of concurrent engineering (CE).

No abstract

No abstract

Product data contains one of the most valuable assets of a company -the intellectual property (IP). Especially the modern parametric and feature-based 3D CAD systems have been enhanced towards acquiring, representing, processing and distributing knowledge to support KBE (Knowledge-Based Engineering) within the virtual product creation. However, it is very easy to exchange any product related information by electronic media. In the age of the globalism the product data exchange between different parties in the supply chain has become the ubiquitous and frequent form of business communication by transferring huge amounts of product data within the virtual enterprise. So there is an enormous threat that the intellectual property could fall into the wrong hands and badly damage the product innovation in a momentous way. This contribution analyzes this area of conflict, discusses the need for action in supplier networks and describes attempts from research and development as well as productive software solutions for intellectual property protection (IPP) based on CAD models and their best practices.