Due to the current COVID-19 epidemic, many companies may be seeing a slowdown or suspension in the day-to-day programs and efforts that regularly fill working hours.
As a result, these groups may now have the time and resources to redirect their emphasis to longer-term, often-overlooked projects. Now is an excellent moment to handle these improvements in anticipation of the impending economic recovery and a return in typical business and transaction volume.
Managing Intellectual Property Tips
The establishment of an organization’s intellectual property (“IP”) strategy, which includes an evaluation of the organization’s IP assets, is one example of an often disregarded project or plan. It is common for organizations to ignore their corporate IP strategy until they are asked to demonstrate or execute it – often in situations where a detailed overview of the organization’s IP portfolio and IP management processes is required, such as in the context of an acquisition, investment, or asset sale. This frequently leaves the business and its IP specialists scurrying to establish a chain of ownership, seek IP asset protection, or map the spread of IP at inconvenient periods or under significant time limits.
As a result, if your business has spare time or resources, now is an excellent moment to examine your IP assets and IP management plan, and take necessary actions to fill any discovered gaps.
As part of this analysis, your company should consider the following actions:
Create an Organizational Confidentiality Policy– this policy should require workers to keep secret and proprietary material strictly confidential, and to only use and/or disclose such material internally on a need-to-know basis. Furthermore, this policy can provide a clear strategy for dealing with trade secrets and mandate the usage of a Non-Disclosure Agreement if the business intends to disclose sensitive or proprietary information to third parties.
Communicate with Employees – An internal message should be written and delivered on a regular basis (at least once a year) to remind employees that all proprietary and sensitive information must be kept completely confidential and is subject to the organization’s Confidentiality Policy.
Include Notations on Documents – All confidential and proprietary information should be accompanied by markings or notations indicating that the document containing it contains confidential and proprietary information, that unauthorized copying or further use is prohibited, and that a copyright notice is displayed (if applicable).
Create and Set Standardized Agreements in Place Contractor/Developer Agreements — The business should create template Non-Disclosure Agreements, Employment Agreements, and Contractor/Development Agreements that cover the creation and ownership of intellectual property, as well as the management of private and sensitive information. A policy or procedure requiring all workers to sign employment agreements that include standard, worldwide IP assignment, and confidentiality terms, as well as a waiver of moral rights, should be implemented.
Install Technical Protections – especially important IP or trade secrets should be subject to extremely severe access controls to prevent unauthorized access and should be maintained on a secure server. The organization should guarantee that systems and safeguards are designed and implemented to aid the protection of this intellectual property.
Patent and intellectual property review – all software, inventions, and prototypes should be assessed to identify patentability and what protections may be available, and what steps should be taken to protect such software, inventions, and prototypes. Organizations should list everyone who was engaged (both internally and outside) in the production of an IP asset as part of an IP Review in order to establish a chain of title. To preserve this information, appropriate documentation should be utilized.
Trademark Review – all brand names, logos, and designs (including the organization and trade names) to be used in association with the organization’s services or products should be reviewed from a trademark standpoint to determine how and if the names, logos, or designs are and can be used, and whether they are eligible for registration protection.
Copyright Registration – All original software and documentation generated by the organization should be assessed to see if copyright should be registered in order to protect the original work.
The preceding is a summary of some critical issues for your business if it is able to conduct an assessment of its IP assets and IP management plan. However, depending on your organization’s circumstances, there may be a number of additional difficulties that occur or demand attention.