The Company operates in a niche technology research and development market, with global clients in both the public and private sectors. The Company’s cutting-edge chemistry-focused technology has a wide range of applications across a variety of sectors including electronics, medtec, and filtration.
In response to the suspected theft of a trade secret, the Company engaged Metis Partners to enhance its existing IP strategy by developing a bespoke Trade Secrets Policy. This would include a methodological approach for identifying, recording and storing all the Company’s trade secrets.
The assignment also included the creation of a Disclosure Sensitivity Awareness (or “DSA”) Flowchart, which would enable the Company’s technical and managerial staff to easily classify the sensitivity levels of all proprietary and critical information produced by the Company.
As part of our Metisology® approach we conducted an on-site workshop with the Company’s senior management team, to identify:
- the Company’s existing trade secrets;
- the areas of the business where trade secrets and other sensitive IP, such
- as critical organizational knowledge, are typically generated; and
- any risks associated with the existing protection measures.
The workshop helped us to assess the Company’s existing IP culture, and enabled us to present an outline of key responsibilities that are typically required of Trade Secrets Managers and Handlers.
Metis Partners delivered a bespoke Trade Secrets Policy which provided robust recommendations regarding the security measures and procedures that the Company should adopt, both within those areas of the Company where IP plays a key part and as a whole.
We delivered a trade secrets presentation and workshop for Company staff to introduce them to the concept of trade secrets, their importance to the Company, and how the Company’s IP strategy would be modified by the newly-introduced trade secrets policies.
We designed a Company-specific DSA Flowchart to enable staff to identify the sensitivity level associated with any piece of information vesting in the Company, with guidance on how to treat it accordingly.
IP Assets Appraised – Trade Secrets, Key Organizational Knowledge, R&D, Know-How, Critical Databases
