In the current economic crisis, many employees are being made redundant. Businesses need to consider that some employees whose employment has been terminated may be walking out the door with your intellectual property to help them set up their own business or possibly worse, to assist a competitor.

While general know-how in an employee's head may be something that he or she is entitled to use after their employment ends, a former employee may not divulge a trade secret.

Understanding who owns the intellectual property rights in work done by employees in the course of their employment (copyright, designs, inventions, etc) is key to protecting your business from the potential loss of that intellectual property.

A former employee is not allowed to use intellectual property created for one employer for the benefit of another employer simply because that person created them.

Employers needed to take steps to seek to protect their valuable property from being taken by rogue workers as preventing the loss is much more effective that seeking to repair the damage later.

The best way for an employer to assert ownership over intellectual property created by employees is to include express terms to that effect in their employment contract and stating that those rights are assigned on creation to the employer. In respect of protecting confidential information disclosed to those in the course of their employment, appropriate restraint clauses can prohibit unauthorised disclosure of client lists and other information that is not in the public domain.

If you wish to discuss ways to protect your business and it’s intellectual property, please contact Craig Pryor on 925 8688 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or for more information in relation to employment issues and contracts, please contact Kevin Dwyer on 9525 8688 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .