Protecting the intellectual property of enterprises is a “hot” issue in Vietnam. Enterprises must always have a comprehensive and synchronous strategy on intellectual property. The following are some basic contents to help effectively manage the business secrets of enterprises.
Identifying trade secrets
This is the content that requires the owner of confidential information to consider when deciding whether to treat a piece of information as a trade secret. Therefore, the owner needs to consider and ask questions such as:
Was that information known outside the Company?
Is the Company widely known to employees and others involved?
Have measures been taken to ensure the confidentiality of that information?
What is the value of that information to your company?
How much money and effort did it take to collect and develop that information?
How difficult is it for others to obtain, collect, and replicate that information?
Managers need to consider whether the information they hold is likely to be protected and whether it meets the standards for protecting trade secrets. If it is determined that the information the business holds or will create is likely to be protected as a trade secret, the business owner will proceed to the next step.
Building a protection policy
Thereby, enterprises proactively create a favorable mechanism to protect and enforce the right to trade secrets. This is closely linked to the rules and regulations of the enterprise. Proactively protecting the intellectual property of enterprises is a top priority in the field of intellectual property because the origin of this right is private rights with initial adjustment according to the Civil Law. Self-protection of enterprises is an important factor contributing to reducing the burden on the State management system, at the same time it increases the initiative of enterprises in the economy. An ideal protection system for intellectual property in general and trade secrets in particular is that the State only intervenes when a dispute occurs and handles it through the Court.
Employee education
It is manifested in many different ways, at many different stages and must be considered an important key to protecting trade secrets. Specifically:
When hiring new employees: Include specific confidentiality provisions in the employment contract, and full instructions on protection plans. Make people aware that disclosure of confidential information may result in termination of employment and prosecution.
For former employees: Always treat fairly and appropriately for creative activities and information security for the business. Have measures to remind employees about confidentiality awareness, avoid exposing negligence (inadvertently). Awareness of protecting business secrets as well as other intellectual properties must be highly developed into the culture of the business. Business owners must also have obligations towards former employees, training each employee to become a potential security guard. Always have a mechanism to closely monitor compliance and prosecute violations.
Minimize the number of people accessing information if possible.
The more people who know the information, the higher the possibility of information disclosure. Therefore, businesses should calculate the maximum limit of people who have access to confidential information according to the principle: Only those who are selected to work in the process with access to the information can know the information. This should be noted with computer systems. It is necessary to limit each employee's access to data that is used or really necessary for the transaction.
Mark documents in separate order
Marking the above documents is to help employees recognize business secrets thereby preventing unintentional disclosure. However, marking the documents in a separate order ensures that only a few employees in the business know and thus reduce disclosure to a minimum. Many businesses also protect the confidentiality of information by encoding information in their own ways for confidential information. However, marking documents requires consistency. The physical object can be on paper, by electronic means, or other means of storage.
Physical isolation and protection:
A highly feasible system of isolation measures should be implemented. This measure includes the following contents:
Store and have separate keys, have firewalls, anti-virus software,
Monitor and check the information interfaces for sending and receiving: email, saving outgoing and incoming files.
Control access and monitor remote access of servers.
Enter the list of people who have access (including people and documents viewed).
Monitor storage facilities closely.
Break down information into smaller pieces to form a unified whole.
Limit the use of communication, transceivers, and information devices in the business area. For example: do not allow cameras, mobile phones, etc. into the production area.
Restricting public access to information storage facilities
This is a way to control the entry and exit of customers by means such as accompanying customers, registering and issuing access cards with ID numbers and customer information when checking in, using support systems such as: cameras, voice calls, automatic warning systems, etc.
Have a relationship based on a strong legal foundation with a third party:
This can be understood from two perspectives:
For partners as consultants, advisors, programmers…
In the case of joint exploitation: licensing, joint ventures... In business, to maximize the profitability of intellectual property that the enterprise owns, business owners also need to consider cooperation in exploiting the above assets. Regardless of the angle, it is necessary to meet the issues that need to be noted when conducting cooperation, which are: There must be a confidentiality contract, a non-disclosure contract, and restrictions on access according to the need to know.
According to management magazine
