Q&A Concerning IP Protection And Social Media Issues In The Workplace

The explosion of digital and social media enables companies to work more efficiently and to easily and creatively promote their products and services to large audiences across the globe. Modern technological developments in the workplace, however, come with modern issues - one such challenge for companies is protecting intellectual property (IP) and confidential information in today's dynamic, digital and mobile environment.

On January 19, the State Bar of California is bringing together leading IP and employment attorneys from private industry, public agencies, private law firms and law schools for a conference in San Francisco on these issues: "Intellectual Property Protection and Social Media Issues in the Workplace." Seyfarth Shaw is a proud sponsor of the conference and I have the honor of serving as the conference chair.

In this Q&A, I was interviewed by CREATe.org President and CEO Pamela Passman about the conference and these important issues.

1) The issue of social media and IP protection is a daunting one for companies. As you were putting together topic areas for the conference, how did you decide what to focus on?

Indeed, companies are challenged today with a broad range of issues related to IP protection in today's digital and social media environment. For this conference, we considered the top areas of concern and information that would be most practical for participants.

For example, the session "Ownership of IP in the Workplace," looks at the types of agreements you should and can have employees sign. The "IP Issues You Didn't Know you Had" panel takes a look at emerging challenges stemming from hackers, third-party hosted sites, open source software, unscrupulous partners who claim your IP as their own, and users of torrents and the Darknet, to name a few. The luncheon program - "Testimonials and Endorsements: How to Properly Involve Employees" - will provide an overview of the restrictions on the use of testimonials and endorsements and will offer general and specific approaches to staying out of trouble when navigating new advertising media. Closing the day is the session featuring Ms. Passman - "IP Theft in the Workplace." It looks at insider threats - both malicious and unintentional - to confidential information and provides practical steps for improving the protection of IP, including trade secrets.

2) Why should companies be more proactive when it comes to social media in the workplace?

First, companies need to be...