CREATe.org Launches CREATe Leading Practices for IP Protection and Anti-Corruption after Successful Pilot Program

WASHINGTON DC – March 24, 2014 – Companies concerned with the risks associated with trade secret theft, piracy, counterfeiting, other IP theft and corruption, can now use CREATe Leading Practices, a three-step service designed to help companies improve and mature management systems to protect IP or prevent corruption internally or among supply chain partners.

The services – CREATe Leading Practices for IP Protection and CREATe Leading Practices for Anti-Corruption – feature an initial online assessment measuring the maturity of existing practices for either IP protection or anti-corruption. The 90-minute assessment is followed by a discussion and independent evaluation by a CREATe.org expert. The final step is a robust improvement program including access to a 200+ page Guide. The service is available in Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, English and Spanish.

CREATe Leading Practices is based on best practices from global companies, international guidelines, academics, think tanks and other experts. The services take a ‘management systems’ approach and feature many of the same business process categories found in quality management, health and safety and other programs that companies have implemented over the years.

The launch comes after a successful pilot program with more than 60 companies in China, Brazil, Mexico, Europe, the US and other countries. Companies spanned industries including aviation, automotive, information technology (IT), apparel/footwear, electronics, manufacturing, finance, food, consumer products, and education. The results of the pilot are featured in a new Pilot Summary Report available from CREATe.org. Findings include:

Confusion between IT security and IP protection: A majority of companies have physical and IT security systems in place however they do not have other processes in place to protect IP more broadly and to mitigate other IP infringement such as trade secret theft, counterfeiting and piracy.
Policies in place, yet no systems to ensure strong implementation: Many companies have policies in place for IP protection and anti-corruption, however the majority of companies do not have any specific procedures in place to ensure that the policies are implemented, nor sufficient training so employees know how to follow those policies.
Supply chain vulnerabilities: For both IP protection and anti-corruption, companies are weak when it comes to pre-contract risk assessment and due diligence and post-contract monitoring and corrective actions. There is a general lack of understanding of the systems needed to proactively prevent IP theft and corruption among supply chain and business partners.

Several quotes from pilot participants:

“The CREATe Leading Practices program provides an outside perspective and introduced us to global best practices for IP protection. The report and Guide have been very helpful in showing us how to take steps to improve our IP protection program.” BYD, China
“The interaction with the CREATe team was really engaging and interesting. The Summary Report is useful and indeed provides a very good holistic perspective. We enjoyed participating.” Infosys, India
“IP protection is definitely a competitive advantage. It is at the core of our business. The more we secure our IP, the better it is for our company.CREATe Leading Practices complements our approach and can be built onto our existing management system to better protect our trade secrets and other intellectual property.” Arvato, Germany
“The summary report was very helpful for identifying top priorities for areas requiring attention to improve IP protection. For our company, training was identified as a high priority. As a result, we are providing more extensive training to all business units for better IP protection.” Transcend, Taiwan

To download the Pilot Summary Report, please visit http://www.create.org/create-leading-practices-pilot. For more information about CREATe Leading Practices, please email: info@CREATe.org.

About the Center for Responsible Enterprise And Trade (CREATe.org)

The Center for Responsible Enterprise And Trade (CREATe.org) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping companies and their suppliers and business partners reduce counterfeiting, piracy, trade secret theft and corruption. To achieve our objectives, we have developed CREATe Leading Practices for IP Protection and CREATe Leading Practices for Anti-Corruption, two programs based on best practices drawn from companies around the world, academics, and other leading organizations. Our offering includes practical, scalable and cost-effective online assessments, independent evaluations, training and other resources designed to benchmark and improve practices for safeguarding IP and preventing corruption. Companies around the world are using CREATe Leading Practices to measure and improve systems for IP protection and anti-corruption. The service is available in Chinese, English, Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish.

For more information, please email info@CREATe.org or visit www.CREATe.org.