An organization’s success depends on its Intellectual Property (IP) management. There has been a dramatic increase in intellectual assets over the years. Therefore, it is no surprise that they are often hacker targets.
Understanding how to protect IP is vital to any organization. With such skills, you will be better equipped to enact robust practices that guard your assets against intruders. IP protection requires inputs from all areas, including IT, HR, and legal departments. The Chief Security Officer (CSO) and the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) protect an organization’s intellectual property.
Intellectual Property (IP) Explained
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) defines intellectual property as creations of the mind. It includes an organization’s tangible and intangible parts critical to its performance.
They are the foundation on which every other process is built. IPs could be in the form of patents, trade secrets, employee expertise, and manufacturing processes. Finally, IP can be categorized as industrial property, and copyright covers.
Types of Intellectual Property
Below are the different categories of intellectual property,
Patents
Manufacturers and marketers receive patent rights to protect their inventions. Such organizations use patents to keep company information private from competitors. Finally, an organization can renew its patent protection every 20 years.
Trademarks
This is the brand of an organization. It is in the form of symbols, logos, phrases, or sounds associated with a product or service. Trademarks relate to a company’s reputation and are renewable every ten years.
Copyright
Copyrights protect artistic expressions like movies, novels, songs, and poems. They prevent others from copying the expression of an idea. However, the owner can reproduce it in any form as they please. Copyright protection lasts during the owner’s lifetime plus another 50 years.
Trade Secrets
This is information that gives a company a competitive advantage over others. It includes formulas, devices, and patterns. Before granting trade protection to a secret, a company has to prove that the information is valuable and profitable.
Ways to Protect Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is the key to innovation in an organization. Without it, a company or business may not fully maximize the benefits of its inventions. Here are some measures to improve your IP safety,
Have Proper Knowledge of Your Assets
It is vital to know your intellectual assets and where you store them. Ensure that your employees fully understand what is at stake. What are the company assets? How do they protect them? From whom are we protecting? Similarly, be aware of the places or devices where your IP is stored. This could be on personal devices, cloud applications, or third-party systems. This will enable you to take the necessary protective measures.
Educate Employees on IPs and Their Importance
Create awareness among your workers on the value of IPs to an institution. Teach them how to avoid phishing techniques that hackers use to breach data. This includes corporate and external mail, instant messaging apps, collaboration tools, and file sharing. IP protection that solely relies on firewalls and copyright protection without employee awareness is bound to fail.
Know Your Protection Tools
Technological advancements have facilitated the development of new and impenetrable software systems. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools are now being incorporated into security suites to help track the use of sensitive documents. Ensure you encrypt your IP to reduce the risk of internal and external losses.
Use Counterintelligence Measures
While protecting your IP, think like an outsider who wants to acquire this information illegally. How would they go about it? This train of thought will help you consider out-of-the-box ideas that will increase your security.
Conclusion
“Intellectual property assets are invaluable to an individual or organization. Therefore, ensure that all persons associated with your assets are fully aware of their importance,” says Lorri Lomnitzer. Finally, take extensive measures to protect your assets.
