Patent ID: 7812595

Claim:
A device identifying method for identifying an electronic device including therein an actual operation circuit and a test circuit having a test element provided therein, the actual operation circuit operating during an actual operation of the electronic device, the test circuit operating during a test of the electronic device, the device identifying method comprising: obtaining identification information of the certain electronic device by measuring a characteristic of the test element provided in the electronic device, originally for evaluating the characteristics of the electronic device, in order to identify the electronic device; comparing the identification information obtained in the identification information obtaining with prestored one or more pieces of identification information of electronic devices individually representing characteristics of test elements provided in the electronic devices; when the obtained identification information matches one of the prestored pieces of identification information, judging that the electronic device is the same as the electronic device associated with the matching identification information; and judging whether the electronic device is defective or not based on the characteristic of the test element.