Affirmative Strategies to Protect Intellectual Property Assets

Although strategies to protect intellectual capital are discussed throughout this book, a brief overview of some strategies is useful. For thorough protection, companies should

• Conduct periodic intellectual property audits to identify intellectual property assets and improvements thereto

• Appoint committees made up of sales, marketing, and research and development team members to periodically discuss the company's products and services to ensure that the company recognizes its intellectual capital

• Determine the appropriate means to protect such assets from infringement and to use such assets to generate revenue

• Control access to and mark trade secret information as protected or confidential

• Review periodicals and trade journals to monitor competitors' activities and to ensure that competitors do not infringe the company's intellectual property assets

• Initiate intellectual property compliance policies to provide information and training to employees and others on the proper use of the company's intellectual assets

• Institute routine review of their own and competitors' Web sites to ensure that materials posted on such sites are not infringing

• Retain experienced legal counsel as soon as an intellectual property infringement claim may arise, whether on behalf of or against the company

• Investigate the possibility of obtaining insurance coverage for claims made against the company for intellectual property infringement