Smart Business Magazine, Mar 2013

10 Smart Business Philadelphia March 2013 Unfortunately in this type of market job seekers sometimes resort to extreme measures to gain the kind of edge they feel they need to get a job Ahmad says Ive seen many new hires whether consciously or subconsciously come into a job with the belief that their value is increased if they can as some of them would put it hit the ground running when they get on the job In other words they feel that with the help of their previous employers trade secret information they can do a better job for their new employer Sometimes this happens with the complicity of the new employer but sometimes employees do it on their own because they feel it makes them more marketable What then are some practical strategies CEOs and their teams can employ to insulate their companies against the risk of having their trade secrets stolen One of the important early steps executives can take is to enlist the help of a broad cross section of people in their organization to tackle the issue First off what I suggest is establishing a cross group team of people to focus on protecting the companys intellectual property Passman says This team should include somebody senior in the legal department somebody senior in R D somebody from business development somebody on the operations side for example if they have a manufacturing division and somebody responsible for procurement and the supply chain Its important to bring all these disciplines together and instruct them to establish some policies in this area including trade secret policy Another step that should be taken by companies that have significant intellectual property to protect is requiring employees to read and sign confidentiality agreements The confidentiality agreement is first and foremost Ahmad says You have to make sure that every employee understands the significance of holding your companys information confidential All employees must be required to agree in writing they will do so There are a number of items and types of information that companies can put into their employee confidentiality agreements to help protect their intellectual property One approach is to list or enumerate the company trade secrets and other types of information that are required to be held confidential Another tactic is to include language stipulating that inventions and similar types of newly created information automatically become the confidential property of the employer This helps the company in several ways Ahmad says First you get to define what your trade secrets are and what information is expected to be held confidential and you get to formally notify the employee about it This also enables you to make sure that whatever new intellectual property your employees develop will be the property of the company and they will agree to hold that information confidential Vetting third parties Another area where companies seeking to protect their intellectual property need to be vigilant is conducting due diligence on third parties such as suppliers and customers as well as companies they may be seeking to acquire or merge with For any key third parties that youre going to be sharing your intellectual property with its essential to conduct due diligence on them Passman says Due diligence encompasses activities such as research interviews and online searches A key part of the process is being alert to red flags potential problem areas signaling that the third party may not be effective at helping co protect the companys sensitive information Basically you want to see if the third party has any red flags you need to be aware of Passman says For example if theyve been involved in different kinds of litigation especially litigation involving intellectual property or trade secrets And youd want to explore and SPECIAL REPORT LEGAL CLICK OR SCAN to learn more about PNC Business Banking or go to www pnc com businessbanking You have to be very clear with your own employees about your policies and about how serious you are about protecting your intellectual property PAMELA PASSMAN PRESIDENT AND CEO CENTER FOR RESPONSIBLE ENTERPRISE TRADE