Knowledge

10 February 2025 · AI, Confidential Information, Contracts, Cyber Security, Information Security, Innovation, Know-How, Knowledge, Knowledge Transfer, Trade secrets

Information Flows to The Highest Bidder. How About Yours?

A US Federal Reserve official leaked trade secrets while being paid US$450,000 to ‘teach’ at a Chinese university. This is the allegation by US prosecutors. John Rogers shared the information with Chinese intelligence officers who posed as graduate students from a Chinese university. The secret information was from the Federal Reserve’s powerful interest rate-setting committee […]

28 January 2025 · AI, Articles, Creativity, Innovation, Knowledge

Deep Seeking is the Mother of Innovation

A start up spends a fraction of the big 4 tech giants and beats them at their own game. Stock markets plummet as investors realise the tech giants are not invincible! They say necessity is the mother of innovation and creativity, and a Chinese start up 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲. We have been […]

18 December 2024 · Articles, Confidential Information, IP Culture, IP Strategy, IP Value, Knowledge, M&A Due Diligence, Trade secrets

The Heart of Your Business: Protecting What Makes You Unique

Imagine pouring your heart and soul into building something special. The late nights, the unwavering dedication, the innovative spark that sets you apart – it’s all woven into the fabric of your business. Your trade secrets are the lifeblood of this creation. They’re the secret ingredient, the unique formulas, the ingenious processes that give you […]

7 November 2024 · Innovation, Knowledge, Knowledge Transfer, Partnerships

How Do You Protect Your Innovation in Partnerships?

The human species survived because we could communicate and share ideas about what worked and what did not. How to light a fire using flints and tinder, how best to catch a woolly mammoth, how to successfully raise crops on clay based of soil; you get the idea. We innovate better when ideas from different […]

5 November 2024 · Articles, Confidential Information, Knowledge, Knowledge Transfer, M&A Due Diligence, NDA, Partnerships, Tech Transfer, Trade secrets

$605M for Trade Secret Theft of ‘Innovative Approach to Selling Renewable Fuels’

The jury also found that the trade secret theft was willful and malicious, allowing the Court to potentially triple the total damages! Choose your partners carefully. You are flattered when Big Co who also happens to provide your major route to market offers to buy your business. It has been 13 years of hard slog […]

14 October 2024 · Confidential Information, Knowledge, Knowledge Transfer, Trade secrets

As The Law Changes On Non-Competes What Protects Your Confidential Information?

Post-Termination Restrictive Covenants Are Not Immune From Government Interference. Governments around the world including the UK, US, and European governments are reviewing post-termination restrictive covenants (non competes) in an effort to make sure innovation and growth is not stifled. The UK Government makes their position clear: “non-compete clauses represent one of the strongest restraints of […]

3 October 2024 · IP Strategy, Knowledge, Trade secrets

Knowledge Walks Out Every Night Will It Return?

Most business have substantial ‘banks’ of knowledge but generally do very little about capturing it; so that when it leaves, is stolen, fades away, or burns, it is lost. Data, expertise, customer insights, profitability information, research results, algorithms business methods, software development capability, production techniques, design skills.etc. are all potentially very valuable. Identifying and protecting […]

Who is really doing your work and are they safeguarding your valuable IP ?

2 July 2024 · Copyright, Knowledge, Trade secrets

Are your people actually doing their job, or is it someone else?

Are your people actually doing their job, or is it someone else? The Rise of the Shadowy Outsider and how many jobs could they actually do?

1 July 2024 · IP Culture, IP Education, IP Strategy, IP Value, Knowledge, Trade secrets

One reason why Trade Secrets should be your company’s priority

AI tools are so powerful that they can join the dots and identify your Trade Secrets even before you have identified them!

27 June 2024 · Innovation, IP Strategy, Knowledge, Knowledge Transfer, Trade secrets

You Might Have A Patent But Do You Know The Trade Secrets That Sit Within The Patent?

THE MOST IMPORTANT STUFF IS NOT IN THE PATENT It is held in the head of the operator. This is the know-how that makes the system work at all times. It may be the 30 year veteran who just knows (by the change in the sound of the machine) that it is time to add the ingredient!

30 May 2024 · Articles, Innovation, Knowledge, Trade secrets

How are you protecting your competitive advantage?

How are you protecting your competitive advantage? You know the stuff that makes you different, stand out, change the game? What would happen if you lost that magic? Creativity does not happen in a vacuum so how can you contain it and keep what is rightfully yours? How often have you heard this: ‘my people […]

29 May 2024 · Articles, Entrepreneurship, IP Value, Knowledge, Trade secrets

‘I thought it was rude’. They were calling clients asking they join them at their new company!

This is the reality in most companies. Watch this business owner describe how ex- employees contacted his clients asking them to join them in their new venture. What else were they going to do? If the client list were defined as a #tradesecret and #contracts stipulated, they could not remove this, then there would have […]