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This is the new type of war that is spreading around the world like wildfire. To not take this into account in any project is to invite unfair competition and disaster. Creative solutions solicited for this needs to be an active area of discussion in forums like this. I feel creativity can come up with a solution that suits all and the SemiWiki community is a good place to start. I've seen the off the shelf, common solutions that work some what, there must be some creative person out their with an economic/political solution that would work thus freeing up resources for advancing research instead of hobbling it.
Arthur - not quite sure what you are thinking of in this domain (protecting chemical processes) beyond what DuPont is already doing (secrecy and prosecution of theft). For electronic and software IP there are certainly options, but I don't know see those could be extended to this case.
Bernard, we have to attack all IP theft whether chemical, electronic, software and everything else. We cannot compete against those that steal their expensive IP. This is a form of economic warfare and we have to treat it as such, no matter what field it occurs in.
Agreed Arthur. My question was not whether we should protect but how (beyond conventional methods) for non-electronic IP. There are some methods to chemically tag things like explosives, but titanium dioxide seems to me untaggable. You are stuck with conventional security and litigation, no?
Bernard, it isn't about titanium dioxide, but the process and equipment to produce it that were stolen. This also happened to Cisco and the optical router. Sanctions against the company stealing the technology should be levied, just like a bank laundering money.
