IP Infringment in the Workspace

Infringement of intellectual property is occurring increasingly in the workplace.  There are reports of illegal unlicensed software installed on company computer systems, employees running illegal music and audio-visual filesharing systems, the sale of counterfeit goods and DVDs by staff or callers, and the illegal or unlicensed copying of published material. 

The Alliance is working to help businesses protect themselves from the dangers of IP infringement taking place in the work place. While businesses are responsible for the actions of their employees on their IT systems, there are a range of things businesses can do to protect themselves from the dangers of their equipment being used to infringe copyright and to ensure traders selling illegal products are not allowed into the workplace. 

We have produced a simple guide for businesses which outlines the risks associated with intellectual property theft and the measures companies can take to mitigate these risks. A draft IP policy can be downloaded here.

The Intellectual Property Crime Group (IPCG) has also recently conducted research into this growing problem.  The research showed that:

• A staggering 40% of businesses surveyed took no practical action such as trade mark registration or employee training to ensure their and others IP is protected. 
• A third of businesses surveyed were not aware whether goods external traders were selling on their premises were legitimate or not.
• Out of those who knew that employees were selling DVDs at work, nearly a fifth knew that these were counterfeit and still allowed such illegal activity to take place. 
• Over a quarter of respondents do not make staff aware that they must not download illegal content at work. 

We are working with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to ensure these findings are acted upon and businesses made more aware of the responsibilities they have to ensure other people’s IP is not infringed.   More information can be found on the IPO website at www.ipo.gov.uk