is it necessary to buy usb vid

[devil6600]

hi

i have created a product which uses pic184550 uC to communicate through usb. i am an individual and cannot afford to buy vid, does a general purpose vid exists for small scale production? i would really appreciate if someone tell me any alternative way for it..

thanks

 

[bigdogguru]

Many vendors of USB interface devices have VID sublicense service/agreements, Microchip is one such company:


**broken link removed**

While many companies charge a fee for this service, Microchip fortunately does not. Once the agreement has been accepted by Microchip, at their discretion, they can issue you a unique PID for your product.

Other details maybe found at:

**broken link removed**

Hope the info helps in your endeavors.

 

[devil6600]

thanks bigdogguru... getting sublicense from microchip is a good idea... what if i use a random vid & pid that no one uses? using random vid & pid is a crime in US?

 

[bigdogguru]

thanks bigdogguru... getting sublicense from microchip is a good idea... what if i use a random vid & pid that no one uses? using random vid & pid is a crime in US?

Well first of all, how do you know it's a VID and PID nobody is using? It would be a nontrivial affair if you started to sell your product and then your customers plug it in and another device name and manufacturer pops up during driver installation.

Besides, using a VID/PID not licensed to you, would be a civil matter which could very easily end you up in court.

Microchip graciously sublicenses their VID/PID for free, so why not use their free service. So why take the chance?


If get to the point where you exceed 10,000 units, you should be able to afford licensing your own VID/PD directly USB-IF, Inc. or one of the other companies which specialize in selling sublicenses.

You can develop your product using the Microchip VID/PID provided in their development kits and example code. You just can not sell the product using those VID/PIDs.

Hope these suggestion help you in your endeavors.

 

[devil6600]

thanks bigdogguru... very helpful information..