Risks for business
Intellectual Property (IP) rights infringement and in particular IP crime threaten legitimate businesses, their staff, and undermines consumer confidence. Your business may face a number of risks if you do not take appropriate steps to tackle IP crime within your working environment.
Failure to address the problem could leave you and your business liable and at risk to criminal and/or civil action. Under civil law you may be subject to court action and have to pay damages. Criminal action may lead to unlimited fines, or a custodial sentence (which could be up to a maximum of 10 years). You may also be vulnerable to threats from computer viruses and malware.
You need to think about not only the way your business is conducted, but also be aware that the behaviour of your staff – and their actions at work may also incur liability for the organisation as a whole.
Legal liability
Activities which results in IP rights being infringed can raise both civil and criminal law liabilities. In some cases these activities may relate to something done directly by the business. In other instances it may relate to an independent action of a member of staff at work.
Security risks
There are many security risks to a business from IP crime. These include the infiltration of viruses and malware which can aid identity theft, threaten system security and slow down IT networks.
Reputational risks
Good businesses attract respect and the trust of future partners. Adverse publicity relating to any civil or criminal court action could affect how other businesses view you and how they choose to deal with you.
Resource implications
IP crime can impact on the productivity of your business. Resource implications, such as staff neglecting work tasks to carry out illegal activities, and IT system failure due to malware problems, can have a detrimental affect.