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 Listen to our Intellectual property theft podcast
Intellectual property theft is one of the leading threats facing companies today. Yet many companies lack a clear understanding of exactly what their intellectual property is — and more to the point, what it’s worth. “Protecting intellectual property rights is critical. When intellectual property is compromised, whether by theft or carelessness, a business can lose value instantly and at worst permanently,” says David Stewart, a leading practitioner with Deloitte’s Forensic & Disputes Services practice.
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— Bob Low
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Many companies believe that their intellectual property, or IP, is protected when their lawyers register patents, trademarks and the like. But the truth is that’s only a small piece of the IP rights management puzzle.
Intellectual property is like real property — just harder to track
Intellectual property is an intangible product that has commercial value. Put simply, the value of intellectual property is the amount of money someone would spend to create what he could steal from you instead. In some industries, that value is measured in billions of dollars. Most people think of big things — like a corporate brand — when defining intellectual property, but it can be anything at your company that has a high value. Examples of intellectual property include:
- Customer lists
- Industrial designs
- Permits, mineral rights, licences
- Environmental studies
- Agreements and contracts
- Patents, know-how, trade secrets
- Trademarks and brands
- Business processes
- Product pricing models
Do you know where your corporate data is?
Take this brief quiz to determine your intellectual property IQ.
- I have an inventory of intellectual property across our enterprise. I know what my company’s intellectual property is, where it is, and what it is worth.
- I understand that managing my company’s intellectual property is more than just registering patents and trademarks.
- My company has a process in place to identify intellectual property that belongs to others – such as knowledge and trade secrets of competitors that may accidentally come into our business with new personnel.
- I am able to clearly identify what intellectual property is worth protecting.
If you answered “yes” to the questions above, you’re on your way to understanding exactly what your company’s IP is, and how to put controls in place to protect it and avoid crises.
Managing the threat of intellectual property loss
“Managing the threat of intellectual property loss requires a 360-degree view by a forward-looking team — with competencies in several specialized areas,” says Bob Low, a practitioner with the Forensic & Disputes Services group. Between your in-house resources and your outside advisors, make sure you have each of these capabilities covered:
- Intellectual property licensing
- Strategic alliance structuring
- Counterfeit and grey market tracking
- Due diligence on partners and employees
- Patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets
- Intellectual property valuation
- Royalty and revenue recovery
It’s not all about you
Many companies focus only on the threat of their own intellectual property being stolen. But the threat of intellectual property theft can cut both ways. For example, sometimes companies accidentally find themselves in possession of intellectual property that belongs to others — knowledge and trade secrets of competitors that come into your business with new personnel. When you’re thinking about risks related to intellectual property, don’t overlook your exposure because of this kind of infiltration. Be prepared to manage a situation when your company accidentally acquires possession of intellectual property that belongs to someone else and have clearly stated policies in place for managing it — before it happens.
Avoiding risks associated with IP rights requires knowing what your intellectual property is, where it is and what it’s worth. Only then can you start developing controls to protect it — and keep crises from happening.
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These simple steps will start you on your way to protecting your intellectual property
- Inventory your intellectual property across the enterprise and by line of business. Define it, catalogue it and keep your inventory current.
- Assess the value of your intellectual property, starting at the top in terms of value. Document your valuations completely.
- Don’t go overboard protecting everything. Some intellectual property is not worth the cost of tight control — while other intellectual property can make or break your company. You have to know which is which.
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