Patent ID: 7698664

Claim:
A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing an electronic design automation tool to perform a method of processing secured electronic design automation information, the method comprising: receiving the secured electronic design automation information, wherein the secured electronic design automation information has been secured with an altered key, wherein the altered key has been generated by altering a master key using a first password, and wherein the secured electronic design automation information includes rules regarding manufacturing constraints; receiving, from a user at runtime, a second password; regenerating the altered key at runtime using the second password and the master key; if the second password received at runtime matches the first password: accessing the secured electronic design automation information using the regenerated altered key; and processing at least some of the secured electronic design automation information without revealing at least some portion of the secured electronic design automation information; and if the second password received at runtime does not match the first password, denying access to the secured electronic design automation information.