Business piracy is the unauthorized use of intellectual property owned by a business. Business piracy is stealing.
Theft of intellectual property costs businesses in Florida and throughout the United States billions of dollars per year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). On their website they state that intellectual property theft is the top priority of their cyber program.
Due to the internet, business piracy occurs on an international level, and the lax laws in some countries make it harder to enforce.
Because of this, the California Bar Association lists some tips to help businesses prevent business piracy. These tips include:
- Employment contracts should have certain provisions to protect your intellectual property
- Use strict procedures when dealing with licensing
- Keep detailed minutes of all meetings
- Keep records of who is privy to the intellectual property
- Share the intellectual property with others strictly on a need to know basis
Although you can never be fully protected from business piracy in this day and age, these tips will help minimize the likeliness of it to occur, and if you are pirated, you will have detailed records that will aid you and your attorney in the litigation process.
Sources: CEB Blog ; FBI
