"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." – Pablo Picasso

Balancing risk and innovation is a necessary skill in today's economy, where the phrase "risk management" can mean so many things.  Minimizing the amount of risk in a known competitive landscape used to be possible without disclosing things to competitors and the public through patents, but technology and the people using it have gotten smarter—and it is becoming easier to reverse engineer a design, or analyze the components in a composition of matter.  While "keeping a secret" still has its benefits, "spreading the word" is far too easy with our internet-based, global community.  With only one small leak—take a disgruntled client or customer, for example—you'll find the blueprints for your company's next ten years of profitability spread across the internet, and your bottom line around your knees.

Protecting intellectual property with the right tools can still mitigate the risk, and there are ways to use those tools to balance disclosure with secrecy.  A good intellectual property program encompasses more than just patents.  It seeks to establish solid internal trade secret practices, to gain control of joint development agreements and to establish policies and procedures for guests, visitors and employees that respect a company's level of comfort with the risk of technology disclosure.  Without an established trade secret practice, even the best non-disclosure clauses in employment agreements become mediocre at best.  How does an employee know what and what not to keep secret?

To learn more about balancing risk and innovation in the workplace, contact Jared Clark of Cutler & Donahoe, LLP by calling 605.335.4950.  Jared Clark is a registered patent attorney with an office in Sioux Falls, SD.  He is admitted to practice in South Dakota and the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota.  Cutler & Donahoe, LLP has attorneys licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office as well as various U.S. States. 

This blog post is intended to provide only general information. It does not represent a legal opinion or advice regarding any particular case or issue. Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt of the information does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. For legal advice on a specific matter, please seek the advice of counsel.

Copyright © 2010 Jared R. Clark.  All Rights Reserved.