Chip detectives [reverse engineering]

The chip industry is finding new uses for reverse engineering-to defend patents, spur innovation, and trace product failures. Intellectual property negotiations rely on technical ammunition, and over the last decade or so, a handful of laboratories specializing in IC reverse engineering (including Taeus) have sprung up to provide it. As their clients will attest, the ability of these labs to dissect even the most complicated IC is essential for pinpointing cases of patent infringement, and also determining whether a patented technology is worth licensing or buying. Beyond that, semiconductor manufacturers turn to these reverse-engineering houses to get a sense of how their products stack up against the competition, to test the quality of their products, and to trace the root cause of device failures.