Robotics / medical devices / industrial automation
Technical evidence for complex disputes.
Independent engineering analysis for counsel examining robotics, medical devices and embedded software.
Plays Research provides consulting technical expert support to clarify system behavior, assess competing accounts and identify what the engineering records support. Scope can include Chinese-language design files, code comments and development records.
Counsel can retain Dr. Shen as a consulting technical expert for independent engineering analysis. The service does not include legal advice.
The decision
Start with the technical disagreement.
For counsel handling IP, technology and commercial disputes.
Counsel may need to understand how a system works, reconstruct a development history or compare different explanations of performance or failure. The work organizes the evidence around those questions and makes the technical reasoning clear enough to examine.
Key questions
- What does the architecture or source code establish about system behavior?
- How do the design history, test results and records support competing technical explanations?
- Which further evidence would help resolve the technical disagreement?
The work
Review system architecture, source code, design records, performance data and development history. Questions of technology provenance can be examined through the available engineering records. Scope can include Chinese-language specifications, patents, code comments and engineering correspondence, including in international arbitration matters.
Technical analyses, chronologies, architecture maps, source-code findings and briefings for counsel, selected for the questions and available evidence. Engagements begin with a review of fit, scope and potential conflicts.
Technical evidence for IP disputes
What do the engineering records establish about the disputed technology? Counsel can retain Dr. Shen as a consulting technical expert for patent and trade secret disputes involving robotics, embedded systems and industrial automation. The analysis connects mechanical and electrical design, firmware, control software and system behavior to examine competing explanations and questions of technology provenance.
Relevant evidence includes design drawings, schematics, source code, hardware revisions, interface specifications, test data and development records. A disputed function can be traced across physical components, firmware and software to identify how it is implemented and what the supplied evidence establishes about its operation and development.
What counsel receives
- A technical issue map. The competing explanations, points of agreement and the engineering questions that separate them.
- Findings tied to records. Relevant source-code observations, design or test records, and a chronology where sequence matters.
- Reasoning and next evidence. What the available material supports, what it cannot resolve, and the further evidence or tests that would help counsel examine the issue.
The specific work products are agreed against the questions and available records.
Working with evidence
Materials, findings and the next step.
Materials the review may use
- System architecture and interface descriptions
- Source code, change records and development chronology
- Design documents, specifications, test data and failure records
- Relevant Chinese-language engineering records and correspondence
Questions the findings should answer
- Where do the technical accounts actually differ?
- Which explanation is supported by the available records?
- What further evidence would resolve the remaining question?
Did the software change cause the failure?
Illustrative example – not a client matter.
Did a software change cause a failure, or expose an existing limitation? Dr. Shen examines the released build, change records, test conditions and field reports to assess competing explanations.
The analysis identifies what the records support and which further test or preserved evidence would help resolve the remaining question.
Practical questions
A scope that fits the matter.
What does consulting-expert support include?
Depending on the matter, deliverables can include architecture explanations, source-code findings, technical comparisons, evidence chronologies and briefings for counsel. Scope is agreed against the questions and available records.
Can the analysis include Chinese-language evidence?
Yes. Dr. Shen can review Simplified and Traditional Chinese engineering materials directly and explain the findings in English, including the technical meaning of terminology in its original context.
How does an engagement begin?
Start with the parties involved and a brief description of the technical question so fit and potential conflicts can be reviewed. Scope, access arrangements, deliverables and timing are then agreed with counsel.
Start with the decision ahead.
Send Dr. Shen a brief, non-confidential outline of the technology, the decision and the deadline.
The initial discussion covers fit, available evidence and scope, followed by agreement on deliverables, timing, fees and confidentiality arrangements.