CAD Ethics

[khworley]

I'm sure that this is nothing new but I need to know what to do about former CAD drafters who took our general notes, details, symbols, etc. with them to another company. We recently received one of that company's .dwg files with the general notes which matches our existing notes almost verbatim. The same situation exists with a majority of the details. Does anyone know if there is any recourse for these actions or is the proof of where the .dwg files originated from too difficult? Is this simply a matter of poor ethics on the drafter's part and we should just ignore it? Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? Thanks.

[JASONM30395]

Were any of those notes or details copyrighted to your company and can you prove it.

If not I think your out of luck and can only chalk it up to a lesson learned. If your company has a good relationship with the other firm you could also look into informing the powers that be of what has happened and see if they want to "hash thing out" or just let it lie.
Ya never know maybe the prez of the other company would get cheesed knowing one of his employees is ripping off other firms. ( because he wouldn't want that employee to leave his company with their drawings)

[robert.1.hall72202]

Why would this be a problem????
When I have plots floating around, anyone can just grab a Cad station
and recreate everything. Its always out there.

[scwegner]

So the guy went to another company and recreated your notes and symbols but did not take any designs? I'd say it's not especially ethical, but neither is it something that you should pursue. From what you said, it sounds like everything he copied is pretty standard stuff -generic notes and details- where you didn't design it so much as adapt it yourself from industry standards. If that's the case, it's not right, but it's not worth the effort of going after him.

[drafting.33933]

I had a similar situation, but it actually worked to MY benefit. My "competitor" left our office about six, or so, years ago, and I saw one of his projects. I said to myself - "boy, have we progressed since then!" If it is possible (CAD standards not too large in quantity), upgrade once awhile. That's my motto. I look at a CAD standard and ask how can I make the information stand-out more?

[baechlerj]

Does your company have a nondisclosure policy or form that the employees sign at time of hire? Is it a stated company policy that library's, work forms & other non-proprietary items are not to be used outside of the company?

From past positions with various employers I have compiled a substantial CAD library, with their permission of course. They know up front that I will be adding these items and they also know that what ever information I have I will be using in my current job. (This obviously excludes any copyright protected, proprietary, client or corporate/government sensitive items.)
Notes, symbols, text generally are to industry standard, with i-Drop product blocks so easily available, 'homemade' blocks are beginning to disappear. Unless it is a proprietary design or concept, I see no problem with a few notes or symbols being use.
On the lighter side, remember that imitation is the highest form of compliment.

[Ellrick]

All he is doing is propogating your standards thru out the community/industry, you should be gratefull.

[Coolmo]

I personally think this IS a big problem because no matter how small the detail or note is, it was still created by someone and ripped off by another without permission. Just because it takes a short amount of time to create or recreate doesn't mean that it's free. If that were the case, where do you draw the line? Is that to say that all software out there, even though it took just a short time to write should be considered free no matter what the programmer thinks? Items in a document should be viewed the same way.

2 cents