Bird & Bird & OXYGY’s Trade Secrets Solution – Phase 3
In our experience speaking with GCs, CIO, CTO, CPO & CCOs (Chief Innovation, Technology, People & Compliance Officers) about Trade Secrets, they often mention not being able to convince their CEOs of the need for an integrated Trade Secrets management programme. While it may be easier to ring the bell when Trade Secret litigation is on the cards – that may damage a company’s reputation and bottom-line – the case often cannot be made for a pre-emptive strategy in simple terms of dollars and cents. In short, it has historically been difficult to make the business case for a Trade Secrets management programme. Our proposed approach to Trade Secrets will make the conversations with CEOs easier, translating progress in Trade Secrets to traceable benchmarks that can be used by insurers, auditors and investors.
We divide our Trade Secrets engagements into four phases, with the first three phases presented as an integrated Bird & Bird and OXYGY offering, powered with technical solutions, such as the HAZEL and Sycamore Smart Audit tools designed by Chawton Innovation Services.
We previously covered Phase 2 of our multi-phased approach to managing Trade Secrets and in this article we will cover Phase 3, Manage and Monitor.
Phase 2 ends when Bird & Bird and OXYGY have defined with the client a coherent set of recommendations, a roadmap for protecting their Trade Secrets sustainably and created legal documentation & a set of policies & procedures that permit their exploitation with minimum risk-impact. We now have an established Trade Secrets management project framework in place.
The objective of Phase 3 will be to help the client transition from a “one-off” Trade Secrets project set-up to a more scalable Trade Secrets management organisational process. By the end of Phase 3, the client should be able to anticipate evolving threats and regulatory change, as well as respond to any urgent Trade Secrets related questions from a wide variety of stakeholders: investors, customers, clients, suppliers, insurers, etc.
OXYGY’s experience with process excellence and performance management will come to the fore, as we will co-design a Trade Secrets operating model that includes KPIs, governance, and roles & responsibilities for the long-term. We will also work with the client to develop a time and resource efficient monitoring mechanism. It will keep track of a client’s internal Trade Secrets management progress and risks, as well as external factors such as cyber-threats and web-reputation metrics that can affect and be an effect of your Trade Secrets management.
To this end, our IT security experts will also be at work, implementing the changes to the client’s Information security architecture in collaboration with their counterparts in organisation. Threat monitoring systems (including dark web chatter detection) and cyber control-specific KPIs will be deployed.
In Phase 3, Bird & Bird will regularly coordinate its legal advice and expertise with the maintenance of the operating model. It will perform periodic Trade Secrets “health-checks”, modify policies and perform training in conjunction with the results of said checks.
At the conclusion of Phase 3, the client organisation will be fully prepared to undertake Trade Secrets management at the desired level of autonomy and possess a team with the skillset, tools and processes to anticipate and respond to a large diversity of Trade Secrets risks.
About the Authors
Edoardo Monopoli – CEO, OXYGY
Since 1995, I have partnered with senior executives on their personal, leadership team and business strategies for sustainable success, combining performance improvement with real people engagement.
Rob Williams – Partner, Bird & Bird LLP
I am a partner and co-head of our Intellectual Property Group in Bird & Bird LLP in London where I use my deep-level experience of complex IP strategy and disputes to advise clients from a range of IP-rich industries
Yuji Develle – Consultant, OXYGY
My strengths lie in collaborating with stakeholders in complex business ecosystems and in creatively designing new solutions to difficult problems. I am passionate about exploring the tender interaction between technology and business models.