A Seven-track Protection Mechanism for Design Knowledge

Design knowledge belongs to intellectual property, presented in three main types: (1) Serviceable Design Knowledge (SDK), (2) Intangible Design Knowledge (IDK), and (3) Tangible Design Knowledge (TDK). These three types of design knowledge are respectively generated in three successive creation development stages, namely the early design strategy stage, the intermediate design process stage, and the final design result stage. In order to fully protect the intellectual property rights of the three types of design knowledge during the process of creation development, the authors of this paper propose a brand new concept referred to as the “Seven-track Protection Mechanism for Design Knowledge”. This will provide full coverage on protection of design knowledge.