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puter Crimes 49 6.12. Outlook 49 7. Protecting Intangible Assets in the R&D Environment 50 7.1. Effectiveness 50 7.2. Human Capital Issues 51 7.3. The ‘Surveiller Cycle’ as a Potential Solution 52 7.4. Checklist for the protection of PI and IP 59 8. Bibliography 62 1. Introduction 1.1. Background Intellectual assets (IAs), can exist in a variety of forms, though they are all based upon the generation, capture and protection of valuable knowledge. Their foundation is fragile, as it is dependent upon the transition from tacit knowledge possessed by an individual, into the organisation with which they are associated. The organisation must then convert that knowledge into valuing creating processes, products or practices. While intellectual property (IP) is not the only form of IA, it is the most obvious and the most tangible. A diverse range of criminal and commercial activities threaten the viability of knowledge dependent companies and organisations. At least three separate surveys, all conducted by experienced consulting bodies around the world, serve to highlight the threats to IA’s . The scale of the current impact of these threats on business is considerable and growing - one in five respondents to the Kroll Corporate IP Abuse survey indicated losses exceeding US$1million, including one suffering a loss of over US$200million from IP infringements alone . The American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) 2002 "Trends in Proprietary Information Loss Report” estimates total losses in IP revenue from companies participating in the survey at between US$53 and US$59billion in the year 2001 . This worrying situation is further exacerbated by reports from the Kroll survey that "43 percent of patent owners characterised the calculation of their companies IP valuation as 'just a guess” illustrating the difficulties experienced by managers in defining and valuing intellectual assets under current accounting standards . The inability to identify and quantify more valuable assets within the firm is likely to have repercussions in terms of ensuring key information assets receive adequate protection. Unfortunately, if contemporary fraud theory is any example, the greatest threat to IAs is internal with the vast majority of fraud being perpetrated by employees of the company . Thus, the very individuals who are trusted with knowledge most crucial to the knowledge dependent company's very existence are the very same individuals most likely to betray that trust. There are many reasons for this, some are accidental such as the scientist discussing his research at a conference prior to patent submission. Others more deliberate. Knowledge sharing is important and valuable, however it can be a two edged sword. The 8th Global Fraud Survey conducted by Ernst and Young indicated that some 85% of the worst frauds were perpetrated by insiders, whilst also showing a worrying trend that the incidence of fraud is increasing . The management of intellectual property and proprietary information is a multidisciplinary activity involving skills in law, finance, human resources, marketing, R&D and sales and distribution. Today, many organisations generate proprietary information as part of their regular business activities. Some companies may extend these activities and convert a proportion of their proprietary information into intellectual property. Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) confer legal ownership within a jurisdiction