US 6,049,145 · Granted 2000-04-11

The Anti-Tampering Circuit That Locks Down Consumer Gadgets

Motorola patented a clever electronic guard dog that watches whether your phone or device is being opened. If someone tries to crack it open, the circuit detects the break and shuts the whole device down — no data theft, no hacking, game over.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers an electronic device with a tamper detection circuit built into the housing. What's protected here is the specific method of coupling a safety circuit to the main electronics so that when the housing and cover are separated, the device becomes completely inoperable. Anyone copying this approach — wiring a detection circuit to disable the device on housing breach — would infringe.

Why it matters

This patent addresses a real security concern: phones and devices contain valuable data and components. By making a device self-destruct when opened, Motorola created a strong deterrent against theft, cloning, and unauthorized repair. In an era of rising mobile device theft and counterfeiting, this kind of hardware-level tamper protection became a competitive feature and a security standard in consumer electronics.

Real-world use

When a phone or portable radio is physically opened by someone without authorization, the tamper circuit detects it and renders the device unusable, protecting both the owner's data and the manufacturer's intellectual property.

Original USPTO abstract

An electronic device (100) includes electrical circuitry (130), a housing (105) in which the electronic circuitry (130) is situated, a cover (110) for enclosing the electrical circuitry (130) within the housing (105), and a tamper proof safety circuit (120) coupled to the electrical circuitry (130) for rendering the electronic device (100) inoperable when the housing (105) and cover (110) are disassembled.

Patent details

Publication number: US 6,049,145
Filing date: 1997-07-07
Grant date: 2000-04-11
Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
Inventor(s): AUSTIN; MICHEAL M., PAGE; KEVIN D.
CPC class: H04M1/0262

View original record on Google Patents →

Want to file your own patent?

If you're designing a secure device that needs to protect itself from unauthorized opening, search our database to see what tamper-detection patents are already staked out in your product category.

Free patentability scan