Staff activities
Staff infringing Intellectual Property (IP) rights at work can impact productivity, put your systems at risk from malware and put you and your business at risk of legal liability for their actions.
Selling fake goods
Your staff may be selling fake goods at work through word of mouth, through intranets, notice boards or staff newsletters. This is similar in many respects to external traders coming on site and should be addressed in a similar way.
Use of office equipment
Your office equipment could be used to market and sell fake and pirate products to a wider target audience increasing the risks to your business. Using office computers to access internet auction sites or using work postal systems to send infringing packages to purchasers are examples.
Your office computers may be being used to copy items such as films, music and books by burning them on to CDs or photocopying them. Systems could be used to posting such items onto the internet in digital formats and/or sharing them electronically with others.
The uploading (i.e. making it available) of material or the distribution/sharing of material can attract criminal liability as well as civil. However, it is not a criminal IP offence in the UK to download protected material from the internet illegally, although it is a civil wrong/infringement.
Case study
Intelligence was received by The Federation Against of Copyright Theft (FACT) which suggested that a college teacher had placed counterfeit copies of films onto the college computer network. This network was accessible by all staff and students. FACT contacted the college headmaster who investigated the allegation. As a result, a teacher was given an official warning and the illegal content was immediately withdrawn.
College staff were subsequently warned against this kind of activity, and informed of the consequences, including the possibility of formal disciplinary proceedings. Formal disciplinary might constitute gross misconduct and lead to their dismissal. All staff are now fully conversant with college policy and the appropriate legislation.
Practical advice, guidance and tools are available to deal with IP rights infringement including specific advice for Human Resources (HR), procurement and Information Technology (IT) on what can be done to combat it. It is important to consult your legal advisor for advice and assistance in establishing suitable policies and guidance for staff.