Page 281 - Concise Encyclopedia of Robotics

Resolution Reverse Engineering

REVERSE ENGINEERING
It is possible to build a machine that does the same things as some other
machine, but using a different design. When this is done with computers,
it is called cloning. In general, complex or sophisticated devices or systems
have more equivalent designs than simple devices or systems. Reverse engi-
neering is a process by which a device or system is copied functionally, but
not literally.
Reverse engineering raises legal issues. If you can duplicate the things
a patented machine will do, but use a new and different approach that
you thought of independently, you do not, in most cases, infringe on the
patent of the original machine. If you invent something like a smart
robot and then get it patented, you cannot normally get a patent for what
it does. For example, you cannot design a bicycle-waxing robot and then
expect to get a patent that will keep anyone else from legally building and
selling a robot that can wax bicycles.
But suppose someone reverse-engineers a patented product by disman-
tling it and then rebuilding it almost, but not quite, the same way. This
person does not invent a new design. The work is used in slightly, but not
significantly, altered form, and then a claim is made that the resulting
product is “new.” This constitutes patent infringement.

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