Previous step
Step 3: Plan
Life goes on and things happen, even after your IP is protected. What you have created and protected needs attention too.
Step 4: Policies, IP policies, compliance, code of behavior, violations
Once you have created a plan, put protocols in place, personally or across the company, for managing your newly protected IP.
Policies for everyone who touches the IP
Unless you have developed an all-seeing eye, you need policies in place, not only for your own interaction with your IP but for any interaction with corporate IP.
Even in the IP profession, many different people handle different parts of intellectual-property compliance and of community activity. Teach all your team members why IP safety matters, and how to respond to anyone who has questions, makes inquiries, or simply wants to understand why these protections are needed.[1] It is not unusual for team members, or people inside an organization, to disclose information unwittingly and compromise your IP and its future value.
A business is made up of its people. They carry out its day-to-day affairs, so it is essential that they understand what counts as safe disclosure, and when a non-disclosure agreement is required.[2]
A code of behavior
It is simply pragmatic to prepare a code of behavior for everyone who interacts with your IP, in your community or organization, so they do not reveal or infringe IP by accident. A code of behavior is a set of policies that separates acceptable conduct from unacceptable conduct.[3]
Communicate the consequences of violating the code.[3] Base them on the seriousness of the infraction as a whole: they can range from a “slap on the wrist” to ending the person’s work with you on the project, or their employment within the organization.
Make the value of the IP clear
Preserving these assets is essential, and everyone must understand how much they are worth. Failing to guard IP assets is not like borrowing the company stapler; it is like giving away the core of the business. It devalues the IP, and with it any future that asset might have. Team members need to stay vigilant and aware of how significant these assets are.
The code of behavior has to suit the nature of the proprietary information, and be fair. Also give everyone who works with the IP a plain-language description of the nature of the business information and of its value.
Another option is to have a person or an outside firm work with your team on any compliance questions. Policies are part of the process of keeping your IP’s integrity intact.[1]
Before and after Step 4
Next step
Step 5: Access
Access is a major threat. It can be a serious blow to you or your organization if a person or employee has not agreed to the protocols for managing your IP.
Protecting value, all the way to monetization
Steps 5 to 7: Access, agreements, ownership
These are the important steps to monetization. Create policies around your intellectual property. Understand what access means and how to protect it. Create agreements that protect access and value. Document ownership.
Steps 8 to 10: Audits, infringement, documentation
Audit your intellectual property and the status of each asset. Understand what infringement means, and the best way to approach it, whether you are infringing or being infringed. Documentation will ultimately be the most important piece of the monetization process: think of it as a documented audit trail.
References
- a b WIPO Guide to Trade Secrets and Innovation, Part III: Basics of trade secret protection. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
- ↑ Non-disclosure agreement. Wikipedia.
- a b Code of conduct. Wikipedia.
- ↑ RIF Industries: Technology and intellectual property. Maynard L. Dokken, the record. maynardldokken.com/rif-industries/#technology
Every source above was opened and checked on 3 November 2026.
Further reading
- What is intellectual property? World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Background on the subjects of this page, not cited above. Each link was opened and checked on 3 November 2026.