Patents as a security mechanism

Matt Blaze mab at crypto.com
Tue Jan 21 11:02:25 EST 2003


Patents were originally intended, and are usually used (for better
or for worse), as a mechanism for protecting inventors and their
licensees from competition.  But I've noticed a couple of areas where
patents are also used as a security mechanism, aiming to prevent the
unauthorized production of products that might threaten some aspect of a
system's security.

One example close to home is the DVD patents, which, in addition to
providing income for the DVD patent holders, also allows them to prevent
the production of players that don't meet certain requirements.  This
effectively reduces the availability of multi-region players; the patents
protect the security of the region coding system.

Another example I've found is in the world of mechanical locks, where
one of the biggest security threats to users comes from the unauthorized
duplication of keys.  High-security lock manufacturers try to create
key designs that are novel enough to be patented, and advertise the
patents (and the fact that keys have tightly controlled distribution)
as a selling point.  Many users actually prefer these patented products
because even though it means they might have to pay monopoly prices for their
keys, it makes it less likely that a thief will be able to get a duplicate
at the corner hardware store.  I'm a bit skeptical about whether this
really is effective (and at least one legal case, Best v. Ilco, casts some
doubt on the validity of many of the key blank patents) but it's standard
practice in the lock industry.

Are there other examples where patents are used as a security mechanism?

-matt



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