Michael D. Moberly October 29, 2009
Will the economic fact that increasing percentages (65%+) of most company’s value and sources of revenue lie in – are directly related to intangible assets become the impetus – rationale for management teams and boards to assess and possibly convert the traditional position of ‘information asset protection manager’ to ‘intangible asset risk management and protection officer’?
The underlying requisites for company’s to be able to reap the economic – competitive advantage benefits that come from the effective utilization of their intangible assets lies in their ability to (a.) sustain (protect, preserve) control, use, and ownership of those assets, (b.) monitor their (contributory) value and materiality, and (c.) recognize the array of risks/threats to those assets. Each of these would, in effect, become some of the responsibilities associated with intangible asset risk management and protection.
Management team and board responsibilities for the stewardship and oversight of their company’s intangible assets have become fiduciary in nature which will surely prompt them, and legal counsel to collectively re-assess conventional responsibilities of the often times (vertical, siloed) information asset protection program that routinely focuses on proprietary information and intellectual property.
Some additional and key responsibilities of the ‘intangible asset protection and risk management’ position would entail, among other things…
1. Designing and putting in place best practices to forsee, intercede, and mitigate the various and asymmetric risks/threats directed to a company’s intangible assets that could (a.) elevate reputational risk, (b.) undermine/erode asset value, and/or (c.) lead to asset infringement, theft, or misappropration…
2. Recognizing the boundaryless nature of intangible assets and the extended and interconnected networks in which the exist…
3. Developing enterprise-wide platforms to foster a collaborative culture that understands and respects the development and contributory value of intangible assets…
