Employee Theft of Intellectual Property: The Challenges of Identifying, Responding to, and Preventing the Theft of Intangible Business Resources.

• In Event: White-Collar Crime at 75: Research, Theory and Policy II

Abstract

In the vast majority of cases, employee theft centers on the taking of cash or other financial resources of the business, or some physical resource owned by the business. In many fewer cases, theft involves the taking of intellectual property from the business; however, these thefts can have significant long-term impacts upon victimized businesses. Because the costs associated with intellectual property theft are difficult to quantify in terms of “present-day” dollars taken away from the bottom-line, they are often times seen as more of a nuisance than an actual victimization of the business. This perspective has led many small business owners to see intellectual property theft as an actual theft from the business, yet one that is just “a cost of doing business.” This paper explores the challenges associated with identifying instances of intellectual property theft by an employee, and explores how some small businesses have responded to and attempted to prevent these acts using what the situational crime prevention literature would suggest are effective ways to address this crime.

Author

• Jay Kennedy, University of Cincinnati