Combat Piracy Through Strong Relationships

Forging links with overseas enforcement authorities who have the ability to fight piracy of intellectual property is a critical step in combating that crime, according to a risk management expert.

That advice came from Scott Warren, managing director with Kroll's Business Intelligence and Investigations, a division of Marsh & McLennan Companies.

His remarks came during a panel discussion titled “Building a Resilient Supply Chain,” part of a continuing series on risk management issues presented by Marsh, the insurance brokerage arm of New York-based MMC.

Gary Lynch, global leader for Marsh's risk intelligence strategies and resilience solutions, cited a recent survey by Marsh of corporate clients doing business in Asia. He noted that their two overriding concerns were infrastructure risks which involved the failure of information technology, communications or power, and the quality and counterfeiting of products.

Mr. Warren said intellectual piracy is a complex issue with many roots in societies throughout the world. Combating such theft involves utilizing not only local authorities, but teaming up with competitors, because it is an issue that threatens all of their businesses.

One of the primary actions any company can take is to invest the time to get to know the enforcement powers where the theft is an issue, advised Mr. Warren.

He said this investment is not a matter of money but building the trust and human relationships with individual law enforcement figures. This relationship building involves talking to and helping to train those individuals, he explained.

Mr. Warren went on to say that corporations need to look at the big picture and the links that develop in the theft of intellectual property.

Too often, he said, the focus is on the number of raids made and the amount of goods confiscated. Instead, the focus should be on capturing the major producers of quality counterfeit goods and getting those in charge behind bars. This will have a sobering effect on smaller producers and make them think twice about manufacturing those items, he predicted.

In designing products, corporations should concentrate on protecting their trade secrets and building their trademarks into the items to make them more difficult to counterfeit, he pointed out.

Karen Avery, national practice leader for Marsh's business continuity risk management practice, noted that in the supply chain, retailers worry about problems ranging from design to distribution to the customer.

Corporations need to focus on identifying the areas where the loss of supplies and services can have their greatest impact, she said. They need to make informed decisions about how to handle the loss and, by doing that, be ahead of the competition, Ms. Avery added.

A rebroadcast of the panel discussion is available through www.marsh.com.