Protecting Intellectual Property: A Startup’s Journey to Secure Innovation

Emerging from the innovation powerhouse of a prestigious university, a young startup found itself on the verge of a breakthrough. Their suite of control algorithms promised to reshape the efficiency of both hardware and software solutions across various industries. This intellectual property (IP) held the potential to disrupt the status quo, offering unprecedented performance improvements. But, as they prepared to take the next step in scaling their technology, a serious threat was approaching.

The Challenge

The company’s innovative technology, while promising, was at risk. In the highly competitive and cost-sensitive global market, production often occurs in regions with weak IP protection laws. For a company whose core assets were software-based, the risk of extraction or cloning was not just a possibility but nearly inevitable. The startup’s competitive edge, the product of years of research and development, hung in the balance.

How could they bring their innovation to market without exposing their intellectual property to theft? The stakes couldn’t have been higher. Without a solution, their technology would be vulnerable to piracy, threatening their entire business.

The Path to a Secure Solution

Faced with this challenge, the startup turned to IAR and its secure production partner, EPS Global, to protect its IP. This was not a simple task. The solution needed to protect the software embedded within the company’s hardware without inflating costs or hardware size—both critical considerations in a price-sensitive industry.

Together, the teams devised a plan as innovative as the technology itself. The application image for each microcontroller would be encrypted in a way unique to every device. This meant that even if someone managed to extract the software from the memory, they would be left with an indecipherable puzzle, that was only solvable within the specific hardware it was designed for.

This wasn’t just encryption; it was a fortress built around each device, ensuring the startup’s IP remained locked away, safe from prying eyes. The brilliance of the solution lay in its balance—it protected the software without compromising the efficiency gains that made the technology so valuable in the first place.

Impact and Future

The impact was immediate and profound. Armed with this robust protection, the startup could move forward confidently, bringing its innovation to mass production even in zero-trust environments. Once on the brink of being exposed to cloning, their technology was now safe, enabling them to protect their intellectual property and secure their place as a leader in efficiency-driven innovation.

This wasn’t just a win for the company—it was a win for the entire industry. The solution set a new standard for how software and hardware could be integrated and protected from development through production and into operation.

Colin Lynch, CEO of EPS Global, summarized the collaboration: “In the pursuit of innovation, securing intellectual property is paramount. By partnering with IAR, we've been able to apply our IC Programming Services for the mutual customer to ensure that each microcontroller unit is not just a marvel of efficiency but a bastion of secured technology. This collaboration is a testament to how advanced programming and encryption techniques can seamlessly integrate into the mass production process, safeguarding the essence of innovation.”

Tim Woodruff, General Manager of Embedded Security at IAR, echoed these sentiments: “The journey to protect intellectual properties at rest has been significantly bolstered by integrating IAR's embedded security solutions. IAR's comprehensive tools and frameworks have enabled the customer to easily navigate IP protection complexities, ensuring our innovations remain both cutting-edge and secure. This partnership has been instrumental in safeguarding the customer's technology not only in production but also during operation, enabling new industry capability to be set up.”

A New Era of Innovative Security

For this startup, securing their intellectual property wasn’t just a technical necessity—it was essential for their growth and success. With IAR’s embedded security solutions, they now have the confidence to scale their innovation without fear of cloning or IP theft.

This story highlights the importance of protecting software-based innovations in today’s global market. If safeguarding your intellectual property is critical to your business, our team can help. Contact us today to learn more about how we can protect your IP and see a demonstration of how this solution could work for you.

Curious to see IAR’s security solutions work in action?