A billion dollar industry and it ain’t legal (Hint: it used to be a secret)
All is not right with economies in the Western world. The US remains in a malaise while several European economies teeter on the brink of the abyss. The UK just entered a “double dip” recession and as a major trading partner for the US, we’ll surely feel the impact here in the coming months. There are many reasons for the current economic crisis. Without doubt, risk taking on Wall Street and the reckless spending that it helped fuel and support is largely to blame for where we find ourselves today. That’s history. Done. We can’t change it, we can only learn from it.
I am far more concerned with how we move forward. How does the US economy dust itself off and lead the world to better times? If there was a “magic bullet” we would have used it by now. I guess time will tell whether the decisions being made today in both the public and private sector will hurt or help.
One thing I can tell you is that US businesses are making the recovery far more difficult than it needs to be. Don’t believe me? Would you believe Pamela Passman, the president and chief executive officer for The Center for Responsible Enterprise and Trade (CREATe.org)—a Washington-based non-profit industry group focused on responsible business practices?
“Failure to address the challenge of trade secret theft costs industry billions of dollars each year and can have devastating reputational, financial, and legal impacts for individual companies and the global economy as a whole.”
CREATe.org just released a report entitled “Trade Secret Theft: Managing the Growing Threat in Supply Chains‘. The report claims that trade secret theft costs industry billions of dollars annually and serves as a critical impediment to innovation, job creation and sustainable economic growth.
What does the US economy need today? How about innovation, job creation, and sustainable economic growth! US companies are literally allowing one element of the solution to the country’s economic woes to slip through their fingers into the hands of foreign competitors – many of which reside in China. Chapter 3 of the CREATe.org report states that “The weak rule of law in many countries makes it all but impossible for multinational corporations to address trade secret theft after the fact”.
Once a trade secret is gone, it is gone for good. No second chances.
Many companies sound concerned, but what are the really doing to combat the threat? Passman states the following,
“Over the past several months, we have engaged with representatives from more than a hundred multinational corporations and have been struck by the deep and pervasive concern over trade secret theft. We heard universal agreement about the need for broader awareness of the challenge and better practices and systems to help address the issue internally and externally with suppliers and business partners,”
Sorry folks, talk is cheap in this situation. In many cases, the companies that “lose” trade secrets have only themselves to blame. This is not a new problem! There is plenty of evidence available from law enforcement and non-profit agencies such as CREATe to show that trade secret theft happens on a regular basis. Goodness knows how many instances are covered up and never hit the business press.
I sincerely hope that CREATe report triggers action. The US is an intellectual property powerhouse but we can’t keep giving the stuff away. In my next post, I’ll highlight some basic steps that companies can take to protect their trade secrets. No magic bullets, but certainly more than many companies have in place right now.
As it relates to intellectual property theft prevention, “the ball” is firmly in the court of US companies. Let’s hope no one steals it before they realize that they have it.
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