Scenarios leading to loss of IP
Intellectual property can be described as the intangible assets owned by a company and may be in various forms including literatures and other encrypted versions. The human intellect gives room for innovations on a day to day basis. This is the very attribute that gives a company a competing edge over its rivals. Intellectual property majorly comprises copyrights, trademarks as well as patents. Based on a number of factors, a company may lose its IP which becomes detrimental to its stability in the market especially when the competing power is compromised. Rival companies may gain access into an organization’s storage of crucial data and use this to plot a counter strategy which may lead to huge losses. This reveals why an IP ought to be treated as a company’s highest secret. This report analyses the scenarios under which a company may loses its IP with a special reference to the business environment in Australia. The strategy to protect the company IP based on these scenarios is also discussed at length.
There are a number of scenarios which may lead to loss of IP. The most common one being cyber theft. This happens when cyber criminals use technical routes to gain access into a company’s IP. The other case is the presence of an insider threat. This occurs when one of the company members acts as a spy and uses the information at their disposal to access the company IP. Lacking copyrights or patent for the ownership of a new product is another possible cause of loss of IP. The other aspect is the issues of competitive intelligence where a company employs an individual with the main aim of using them to study and access technical information about a rival company. The last scenario which may lead to loss of IP is when an individual tries to access a company’s dumpsite
- Technical Surveillance
To begin with, there is the common occurrence of Cyber related threats. This is a situation that has been made worse by the rise and expansion in information technology. Individuals have come up with crucial ideas in the field of IT in Australia which gives them access to various online content [1]. Research studies indicate a considerable rise in cyber crime in Australia over the past couple of years. Despite the fact that the government has put in place the necessary strategies to fight this vice, it is a fact worth noting that it remains a major threat to the security of Intellectual Property in the country. With these technical abilities, an individual or a group resorts to the surveillance of a company’s property with the aim of accessing and altering the contents of its trade secrets. When this strategy goes through, the ownership of a company’s IP definitely changes hands without them necessarily allowing it [2].
Possible reasons why a company may lose its IP, and strategies to protect it
As a protection strategy to enhance the security of IP especially with reference to the issue of cyber crime, there is the need to put in place the following measures:
- The company ought to determine and establish the IP assets, note their specific location and put in place the necessary filing, licensing as well as renewal measures
- The IP assets are then supposed to categorized in terms of their sensitivity. In this arrangement, the company is able to determine the most sensitive assets and hence the right individuals to be trusted with keeping these a secret.
- The company then establishes the necessary policies and security requirements which are not only put down in paper but also emphasized through training and necessary exposure.
- Internal security systems are then installed to give room for the managers to keep control over those allowed to access the IP assets. Such measures may include logs and system alerts which become instrumental especially in cases of breach.
- Lack of Copyright/Patent
The second possible reason why a company may lose its IP in Australia is a case where the company lacks the necessary patent or copyright allowing the ownership of the new product. Patents give the company an exclusive right to own certain assets and use them to conduct business over a given period of time based on the contractual agreements. When such rights are absent, the ownership of the IP remains open and anybody is allowed to have it based on the weight of their commitment with the vendor. This therefore implies that the company that tables the best offer ends up having the rights [3].
This scenario can however be avoided when a company organizes a timely acquisition of the patents or ownership rights. Patenting at the right time should not be confused with patenting early since the latter may be a mistake in some cases. Before patenting, the company needs to obtain as much information before publishing a patent. This is because once it is public; it can be easily changed to the disadvantage of the company. The second stage here involves securing the patent under the correct authors who shall ensure that the information remains a discrete secret only available to the right persons. The company ought to keep a diary of its meetings and contractual agreements which should also be non-disclosure ventures [4]. Finally, the company secures a reliable lawyer to aid in any legal engagements regarding the patents while still keeping integrity and IP security on a high.
- Scavenging of trash
In this case, an individual intentionally enters a company’s dumpsite in search of confidential details and personal information. These details can in turn be used to access a company’s IP especially if the ones deduced belong to top IP asset secret holders. Despite the fact that this issue is a rather rare one compared to the other scenarios, it remains a threat and unless the loopholes are sealed effectively, a company may end up losing its IP through such measures.
In order to hinder the loss of IP through such measure, a company can employ a number of strategies. To begin with, there need to enter into contractual agreements with all employees and other key stakeholders on the need to enhance and maintain confidentiality at all times. The second step involves ensuring that the created intellectual property is given to the right people who are in turn charged with responsibilities to keep these assets a secret. One of the measures here involves careful dumping of trash to avoid exposure of both personal and confidential information. Lastly, the company can train and facilitate its staff on the need for safety of IP
- Competitive Intelligence
Possibility of stopping RayCom
In this case, a company employ another individual who is strategy planted in the rival company to access crucial information. This might be an individual with access even to the boardroom meetings. Once they have access to the IP assets, the information is relied to the rival company leading to loss [6]
In order to avoid such a scenario, the company must put in place the most effective recruitment measures. This ensures the individuals taken in are loyal and able to keep top secrets. Secondly, the individuals are trained and enforced on the need for security enhancement in addition to other ethical issues. The last stage involves making contractual agreements and oaths on promise to keep company’s secrets a top priority.
Competition in business is a concept that remains a daily occurrence. It gets more complex owing to the dynamic nature of the corporate world. In the case study, it can be established that Ray Com is simply taking advantage of a business opportunity [7]. The company is taking advantage of the loopholes created by the Australian Company to have an edge over them. As it stands, there are basically two possibilities to the scenario. On one hand, the company can beat Ray Com by speeding the process of patenting in order to ensure that that it keeps the sole rights for the sale of the Antennas. With these assets, the company gets to have a massive edge in line with the control of the market hence minimizing the uprising and dominance of competitors.
On the other hand, it may not be practically possible to stop Raycom from gaining access to the market and building its own brand. In such a case, the only option available for the company is to come up with counter strategies to ensure that it remains competitive and can manage a slot in the market despite the presence of RaCom [7]. This can be achieved through variation of product quality, effective customer services, price control and proper product positioning with reference to the Australian market standards.
Conclusion
This report entailed the description of scenarios which may lead to a company losing its IP. Technical surveillance, scavenging of trash, competitive intelligence and lack of patent were cited as some of the possible factors which lead to loss of IP [8]. For each of the scenarios, a number of procedures were suggested to enhance the safety of the IPs. With the importance that it holds, maintaining the safety of a company’s Intellectual Property ought to remain a top priority for every company.
References
[1] B, Ashforth. and G, Kreiner. “How can you do it?”: Dirty work and the challenge of constructing a positive identity. Academy of Management Review, vol 24, no 3, p. 413-434, August 2010.
[2] H, Arai. “Intellectual Property Policies for the Twenty-First Century,” The Japanese Journal of Experience in Wealth Creation, vol 2,no. 2, p. 23-24, May 2010.
[3] R, Bettig, “Critical Perspectives on the History and Philosophy of Copyright” The Political Economy of Intellectual Property, vol 2, no. 1, p. 9, April 2010.
[4] L, Burk and A, Mark. The Patent Crisis and How the Courts Can Solve It. US: University of Chicago Press, 2009.
[5] L, Goldstein and R, Reese. Copyright, Patent, Trademark and Related State Doctrines: Cases and Materials on the Law of Intellectual Property. New York: Foundations, 2010.
[6] C, Greenhalgh and M, Rogers. Innovation, Intellectual Property, and Economic Growth. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2010.
[7] P, Johnason, “Human resource management in changing organizational contexts,” Human resource management. Vol. 2, no. 1, p. 19-37, June 2010.
[8] R, Schechter and R, John. Intellectual Property: The Law of Copyrights, Patents and Trademarks. New York: West/Wadsworth, 2010.
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