One role of a manager is to protect a company’s intellectual property rights. In the automobile industry, a manager should protect the following intellectual property rights: patent rights, trademarks, designs, and website addresses. To identify and protect intellectual property rights, managers should take the following actions:
The first stage in the protection of the intellectual properties of a company is identifying them. Knowing what a company has as its intellectual rights and needs to be protected. If the rights are on blueprints, the prints should be well protected. If they are intangible assets like patents, then management has the role of ensuring they are well utilized.
A manager should ensure there is strict adherence to a company’s rules and regulations. This will ensure there is compliance with accepted standards and ethical code of conduct. A code of conduct should be developed and measures are taken to ensure that every member of staff adheres to them.
Managers cannot secure intellectual properties alone. They need the assistance of other members of staff; staffs should be trained of their company’s intellectual to protect. If there are changes in the properties, employees should be informed appropriately to ensure that they are updated on what is happening in their organization. In the automobile industry, access to a company’s future designs can be possible through the internet if passwords and entry rights are not well protected. Keepers of such entry rights and passwords should be trained in their role.
The public has a role to play in the protection of intellectual properties. If they are aware of a certain company’s products, they can identify counterfeit goods. The role of management as far as the public is concerned is promoting public awareness (Cheeseman, 2010).
Managers should ensure their company’s intellectual property rights are non-disclosure and non-competitive agreements. This means that employees will not have the urge to compare and equate their rights with those of competitors. If they get such a chance, it will be on a diplomatic level where they can hardly violate other people’s intellectual rights. This calls for well-researched and developed intellectual properties. In the automobile industry, they should ensure that they have superior models.
Innocent employees can do sometimes violate or violation may be out of ignorance; management should ensure that its employees could make a distinction between their company’s intellectual properties and those of other companies. Employees should be trained to respect other people’s intellectual rights, as they would like their rights respected. In case an employee comes up with an idea that has been gotten illegally from another company, the management should refuse to take such ideas and probably punish the employee for such behavior. Such moves will ensure that good behavior has been upheld in the company. Line managers, supervisors and individual staff should be given the mandate of ensuring that their teams respect other people’s intellectual rights. They should not entertain a violation of other people’s rights for their benefit.
To maintain a diplomatic relationship with other companies in the automobile industry, managers should ensure they maintain ethical and legal standards in their company. This may call for the services of a specialist like a lawyer. The specialist should advise their company on the best actions not to violate other people’s intellectual property rights (Birgitte, 2006).
References
Birgitte, A.(2006). Intellectual property rights: innovation, governance and the institutional environment. Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Cheeseman, H. (2010). Legal Environment, Online Commerce, Business Ethics, and International Issues. New York: Prentice-Hall.