Archive for August 2022

How to Secure Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets

How to Secure Intellectual Property - featuring a picture of a woman scientist in a lab

Anything that has value is at risk of being stolen, and unfortunately, that includes your company’s ideas and information. After all, intellectual property generates tremendous value in today’s economy. In 2019, American industries that rely on IP generated more than $7.8 trillion in gross domestic product, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. Those…

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How to Respond to a Whistleblower’s Report

a consultant discusses How to Respond to a Whistleblower’s Report

In theory, it should be a good thing when employees come forward with a whistleblower report.  They’ve spotted a threat to your organization and are giving you the insight you need to address the problem before it becomes even more serious.  Unfortunately, even in the best-case scenario, whistleblower complaints can still be stressful for employees,…

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The First Steps for Conducting Internal Investigations

Human Resources team conducting internal investigations with current employees

Written by: James Hart When the call finally came, Raquel Henderson lunged for the phone on her desk.  Henderson was less than three months into her job as the HR director for a midsize family business in a rural part of the state. The company was the community’s largest employer and a point of pride…

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Theft of Trade Secrets: How to Prevent the Loss of Key Intellectual Property

theft of trade secrets: A business man with his head in his hands dispairingnover the loss of his trade secrets. Theft of trade secrets is big problem for businesses.

Written by: James Hart The names have been changed, but the following story is a compilation of real situations faced by real businesses. Doug Medford had never considered himself paranoid. But there were too many coincidences to merely be coincidental.  Medford, the CEO of a small Midwestern manufacturer, learned that an up-and-coming competitor from China…

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