Patent ID: 8381161

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: generating, by a first computing device, a design data layout format file that defines a plurality of geometric figures and a netlist file that defines electrical connections between said plurality of geometric figures; identifying, by said first computing device, a proprietary geometric figure from said plurality of geometric figures, said identifying comprising: identifying an outer boundary of said proprietary geometric figure; identifying electrical interconnections to and from said proprietary geometric figure that pass through said outer boundary; and identifying specific peripheral structures of said proprietary geometric figure immediately adjacent said outer boundary; replacing, by said first computing device, said proprietary geometric figure in said design data layout format file with a placeholder geometric figure; renaming, by said first computing device, at least one of a cell name and a connection name associated with said proprietary geometric figure from said netlist file with obfuscating names; and generating, by said first computing device, a modified design data layout format file including said placeholder geometric figure and a modified netlist file including said obfuscating names.