![]() ![]() While commercial insurance is valuable for insuring against numerous risks, it's limited in its capability to react to rapid shifts and changes and to insure the many hidden risks businesses face in conjunction with general operations. Considering the sensitivity and importance of IP, companies should allocate sufficient funds to organize risk management strategies for potential IP theft. Regardless of the safeguards in place to prevent IP theft, organizations and individuals must have risk management plans in place to prepare for the "what if?" of IP theft. Potential intellectual property thieves lie in wait and can jump at a moment's notice. It would also be a good idea to hire a specialist or specialists to work solely on organizational cybersecurity if it is financially feasible. Some ways to practice good cybersecurity habits are through using strong passwords and dual-authentication applications or steps in signing into accounts. Good cybersecurity habits are a foundational strategy in wanting to protect not only IP but also personal information such as financial information and access to sensitive accounts. Related: The How-To: Protecting Your Intellectual Property As A Small Business 2. If the information voluntarily becomes public, then it is no longer a protected trade secret. To qualify for a trade secret, the organization or individual must actively prevent this information from being public. This could be a process or even a recipe for an actual secret sauce a pizza company has on its pies. Trade secrets are IP that is not public, holds information that is monetarily valuable and gives the holder of that secret a competitive edge. The fourth option to legally protect IP is through trade secrets. Copyright office helps show that ownership more clearly and quickly. While an original work is automatically owned through copyright by the originator of the work, registering through the U.S. With copyright, however, the intellectual property must be tangible and written down such as a book, song, original speech, poem or any other written original IP. Think of Disney's Mickey Mouse and other related branding.Ĭopyrights are the third legally protective option for IP. These include protections to logos, words, colors or symbols used by an organization or individual for their service or product. ![]() Trademarks protect several key components of a brand or work. The second means of legally protecting IP is through a trademark. Often, technology companies like Apple and Microsoft use patents. Patents protect inventions from unauthorized use and give exclusive rights to inventors. Patent and Trademark Office grants protections and property to original inventions from processes to machines. Moreover, challenging the entity who stole IP and trade secrets often yields few if any worthwhile results. This litigation often does not compensate near the amount lost by an individual or organization when their IP is stolen. One country of note in the conversation of stolen IP is China, where 1 in 5 corporations named as having stolen their IP in 2018.Īdditionally, recourse after IP is stolen is often limited to costly legal battles in court. Along with this, the FBI estimates that the theft of IP and trade secrets and pirating of software results in annual losses between $225 billion and $600 billion. Theft of valuable IP can hurt the bottom lines of large companies, but it also could mean the destruction of everyday businesses as well. Technology has, however, given birth to a myriad of new risks and possibilities to be considered in the theft of valuable IP. IP and trade secrets have always been at risk of predatory behaviors from competitors and firms with converging interests. Intellectual property (IP) are valuable, intangible assets that provide individuals and companies with the ideas and designs needed to bring unique products or services to bare. ![]()
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