computer aided manufacture

recently I've been looking up ways in which I can manufacture products quicker than making them all by hand and drawing all by hand so what I've looked into says I should use cad and cam machines I already knew the basics of cad cam and so I carried on researching it and this is what I found out:
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is the use of computer software to control machine tools and related machinery in the manufacturing of work pieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most common: CAM may also refer to the use of a computer to assist in all operations of a manufacturing plant, including planning, management, transportation and storage. Its primary purpose is to create a faster production process and components and tooling with more precise dimensions and material consistency, which in some cases, uses only the required amount of raw material thus minimizing waste, while simultaneously reducing energy consumption.

3D printing is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes. 3D printing is also considered distinct from traditional machining techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as cutting or drilling these are subtractive processes.

another thing i had to research was the health and safety of the machines that i would want to use and for this i found out that CNC machines are very safe to use as they are designed to be as safe as possible. One of the main advantages of CNC machines is that they are much safer than manually operated machines.1. Most modern CNC machines are designed so that the cutting tool will not start unless the guard is in position. Also, the best CNC machines automatically lock the guard in position whilst the cutter is shaping material. The guard can only be opened if the cutter has stopped.

2. It is essential that machine operators receive quality instruction before attempting to use any CNC equipment. 

3. CNC routers, used for shaping materials such as woods and plastics, have built in extraction. Dust can be very dangerous if inhaled and can also cause eye irritation. The CNC Router has an outlet for an extraction unit. As the router is fully enclosed, dust cannot escape into the atmosphere. If an extraction unit is attached the dust is removed automatically. Most manually operated machine routers have very limited extraction systems which leave some dust in the airso wearing goggles will help prevent that little dust.

4. The CNC router has a single phase electrical supply. Most older machines such as manually operated milling machines and centre lathes have three phase supplies. A single phase electrical supply can be ‘plugged’ into any available socket. The electrical supply for the machine comes through a residual circuit breaker (RCB). If an electrical fault develops the RCB will cut off electrical power immediately.

now that I've found this out i am sure of the health and safety issues concerning these machines

also when doing this research i found out that when using cad cam machines it is possible that people could hack onto your computer which contains the files that i would be design and steal the documents and use them for them selves so i looked up any legislations that would help prevent somebody doing this to my files i found out i would be able to get a patent. this is what i found out about patents: A patent protects new inventions and covers how things work, what they do, how they do it, what they are made of and how they are made. If a patent application is granted, it gives the owner the ability to take a legal action under civil law to try to stop others from making, using, importing or selling the invention without permission. This may involve suing the alleged infringer through the courts, which is costly and time consuming because it involves expert legal advice. The patent owner needs to be able to pay for this civil legal action and advice themselves, although they may get some costs back if they win their case.

also there are standards your product must reach to be allowed a patent.

Your invention must:

be new

have an inventive step that is not obvious to someone with knowledge and experience in the subject

be capable of being made or used in some kind of industry

not be:

a scientific or mathematical discovery, theory or method

a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work

a way of performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business

the presentation of information, or some computer programs 

an animal or plant variety

a method of medical treatment or diagnosis

against public policy or morality.

also you can get a copyright that stops people creating the same design as you. another thing that i found that you can get would be a trademark which separates you from your competitors so they cannot create anything under your trademark.

there are many differences between each of these ways to protect your ideas.
there are lots of differences and these are:
 1.   The purpose of a copyright is to protect works of authorship as fixed in a tangible form of expression. Thus, copyright covers: a) works of art (2 or 3 dimensional), b) photos, pictures, graphic designs, drawings and other forms of images; c) songs, music and sound recordings of all kinds; d) books, manuscripts, publications and other written works; and e) plays, movies, shows, and other performance arts.

2.   The purpose of a trademark is to protect words, phrases and logos used in federally regulated commerce to identify the source of goods and/or services.

3.   There may be occasions when both copyright and trademark protection are desired with respect to the same business endeavor. For example, a marketing campaign for a new product may introduce a new slogan for use with the product, which also appears in advertisements for the product. However, copyright and trademark protection will cover different things. The advertisement's text and graphics, as published in a particular vehicle, will be covered by copyright - but this will not protect the slogan as such. The slogan may be protected by trademark law, but this will not cover the rest of the advertisement. If you want both forms of protection, you will have to perform both types of registration.

4.   If you are interested in protecting a title, slogan, or other short word phrase, generally you want a trademark. Copyright law does not protect a bare phrase, slogan, or trade name.

5.   Whether an image should be protected by trademark or copyright law depends on whether its use is intended to identify the source of goods or services. If an image is used temporarily in an ad campaign, it generally is not the type of thing intended to be protected as a logo.

6.   The registration processes of copyright and trademark are entirely different. For copyright, the filing fee is small, the time to obtain registration is relatively short, and examination by the Copyright Office is limited to ensuring that the registration application is properly completed and suitable copies are attached. For trademark, the filing fee is more substantial, the time to obtain registration is much longer, and examination by the Trademark Office includes a substantive review of potentially conflicting marks which are found to be confusingly similar. While copyright registration is primarily an administrative process, trademark registration is very much an adversarial process.

7.   Copyright law provides for compulsory licensing and royalty payments - there is no analogous concept in trademark law. Plus, the tests and definition of infringement are considerably different under copyright law and trademark law.

this shows that there are some ways in which one of these might be better for your product than the others so for my product it would be best to go for a copyright. however they can't fully protect you because it can't  stop some body hacking files from you so it means that my product could still be stolen before i get a copyright for it but that would be why i would try to get a copy right as soon as i possibly could. i also believe that getting a copyright would mean that i could get hurt in the process because it would mean that somebody can mkae a product similar but not exactly the same so if i tried to sue because i believed it was too similar and then i lost i would have spent all that money for legal advice.