The Society for Human Resource Management or SHRM held its annual convention in Chicago this week.  I was honored to be invited to make a presentation on "HR's Role in Guiding Employees to Avoid Infringement." 

I urged the attendees to consider four key areas of best practices:

1.  Include intellectual property guidelines in employee manuals.  Topics should include confidentiality, ownership of intellectual capital, use of Internet, domain names, brand use guidelines, use of content created by others, to name a few.

2.  Conduct ongoing internal employee training about intellectual property issues.  Employees benefit from a basic understanding of intellectual property protection and how the Guiding Rights of IP relate to the value of the company.  Because you are never a prophet in you own land, it is useful to bring in outside experts to deliver the message.

3.  Be vigilant about employee use of intellectual property.  Don't ignore the facts.  Monitor behavior.  But don't play "gotcha" all the time.  Identify instances of IP misuse and use them as opportunities for education.  Most employees will do the right thing if they are educated and informed.

4.  Break down silos between departments involved with IP issues - Legal, Marketing, R&D, IT, Financial and HR.  Cooperate to develop effective plans.  Create an inter-department committee to develop and implement best practices throughout the company.

In our session, we used my handout "40 Ways To Guiding Employees To Guide Employees to Avoid Infringement," which led to a lively interactive discussion among the attendees. 

I'll be posting these ideas here in coming days.  Return for more.