Winbond, in the protection of intellectual property rights, pursues a dual-track strategy of "Patent + Trade Secret". Winbond not just discloses its technology via patents in exchange for monopoly rights; it also protects key technology and know-how with trade secrets. Records reveal that the two can form a mutual protection pattern too. The following serves as the core logic and practice of dual-track protection:

Cooperative division of labor between patents and trade secrets

1. (I) Patent protection: technology disclosure in exchange for exclusivity

• Object of protection:
• Technical solutions (e.g., 3D structure of NOR Flash, interface protocol for HyperRAM).
• Standardized technology (e.g., SPI NOR specification in JEDEC standard).
• Advantages:
• Strong legal deterrent (infringement can be litigated, such as the successful lawsuit against Micron for $120 million).
• Protection period is clear (20 years).

1. (II) Trade Secrets: protection of non-recoverable leakage of core technologies

• Objects of protection:
• Details of process transfer procedure (e.g., the doping parameters 28nm low leakage process).
• Recipes for productions (e.g., composition ratio of dielectric materials used as memory bit cells).
• Customized algorithms (e.g., Automobile chip ECC optimization logic).
• Benefits:
• Open-ended protection (can be maintained indefinitely as long as secrecy is maintained).
• Avoid technology disclosure (eliminate the report to competitors).

Exceptional protection!

1. (1) Technology division and multi-tiered protection

• That part of the design which is patent-eligible is most likely to be patented (e.g., the 3D NOR structure at US 11,789,012).
• Where the core processing technology is the really valuable thing protected by a trade secret instead (e.g., etching parameters and temperature gradient control for this structure).

1. (2) Combined defense

• Patent lawsuits to fight direct technology theft (e.g., monopolizing competitors for patent infringement suits).
• Infringement of trade secrets to hunt down inside thieves and prevent reverse engineering (e.g., poached processes by former employees taking them away).

1. (3) Internal control

• Be physically kept apart: The core of your R&D has to be isolated from all outside contacts (e.g., process labs) set up like this.
• Hierarchical confidentiality classification: Different staff/parties (according to their own liabilities) cannot have access to the same levels of secrecy.
• Digital watermarking: Embedding traceable logos in technical documents with the aim of identifying and dealing strychnine at source.

Making dual-track protection pay its way

1. (1) Monopoly of Market

• Through business secrets (e.g., yields 15% up from competitors'), patents shut off avenues of technology development from rivals (e.g., AEC-Q100 auto technology patents).

1. (2) The business end of negotiation

• Patent income (e.g., royalties from the family of both 3D).
• This is also true for business secret licenses (e.g., for a fee, TSMC's process parametrics were offered to Mega Innovation).

1. (3) Protect against setbacks

• The patent having been judged void by administrative examination court for instance (e.g., prior art defense), the trade secret still seeks to prevent technology taint.

Challenges and Responses

• Risk of leakage: Strengthen internal audit (e.g., check on people coming and going, office code/document logs).
• Reverse engineering: Affect chip design structure obfuscation to increase entropy analysis barrier (e.g., encryption of the logic layer).
• Legal differences: Different countries have different levels of trade secret protection law (e.g., China's Unfair Competition Law vs. the U.S. DTSA), adaptation strategies must be made for compliance on a local basis.

Typical examples:

• For HyperRAM: Justify designs where very little memory is required by offering such innovations as these (U.S. Patent No. 11,234,569): its interface protocol – trade secret; power management algorithms – proprietary but low-cost and efficient.
• Automobile chip process in the patent (JP 2025-678901): Described the process and structure of sintering materials; trade secret protects that kind of Huabang's dual-track strategy is to integrate the "patent wall" and "secret protection city", not only to take the technological high ground but also ensure long-term competitiveness.