The Importance of Corporate Counsel

As the corporate counsel, it would be prudent to first consider the type of alleged infringement that has been brought to the attention of the company. A thorough perusal of the documents will allow for the counsel to be able to gauge the potential issues that have been or can be raised in the event that the infringement proceeding begins (Manu, 2017).

Due to the significant outlay required for litigation, both man-hours and finances, required to contest  the validity or enforceability of the patent infringement, it would be advisable to consider alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration or licensing of the patent, partly due to the ever rising cost of litigation especially in cases involving patents. These aforementioned methods are not only cost effective ways to handle any disputes that may arise from patent infringement, but they ensure that the party keep their affairs private and ensures that information such as production, marketing and sales strategies remain confidential (McMillion, 2010).  

This goes a long way in ensuring that each party leaves the negotiation table satisfied with the outcome of the processes without antagonizing the opposite party or other third-parties that may take a dim view of the prospect of carrying out a full length litigation process that will make the firm lose customers, suppliers and/or even financiers based on the perceived risk or outcome of the litigation process (Manu, 2017).

Thus, the corporate counsel must first seek to pursue alternative dispute resolution methods with the utmost caution so as to ensure that the outcome is not detrimental to the well-being of the company being sued but also ensure that the outcome is acceptable to all parties involved (Manu, 2017).

CHAPTER SEVEN

While every employer will always seek to recruit the best talent for their job openings, there is always a number of challenges that they are likely to encounter in the process of recruiting new staff members (Kogan, Hellyer, Stewart & Dowers, 2015).

One of the biggest challenge that the employer will likely face is the actual cost of attracting and retaining the employee in terms of remuneration, benefits and other incentives. Due to the fact that the employee may be working for or has worked with larger companies, and is accustomed to a certain level of remuneration and/or benefits, convincing them to take a pay-cut is very difficult, unless they are not solely motivated by money (Steele, 2016). The employer would thus need to convince the potential employee of the role that they are being recruited for ha the potential of becoming something big and successful, and thus their input would be going a long way in furthering this agenda or goal.

Secondly, the employer may have their propriety technology being passed off to competitors. As the propriety technology is what gives the company an upper hand, cases of corporate espionage may easily derail the company and suffer financially (Steele, 2016).  To mitigate against this risk, the employer can place restrictions on the type of information that the employee has access to, the gadgets that the employee can have while on the company premises or putting in measures to track employee activity on computers, copiers or other digital devices that can be used to leak propriety information. Furthermore, the employer can perform background checks on employees who will be responsible for maintaining or accessing sensitive data (Steele, 2016).

REFERENCES

Kogan, L. R., Hellyer, P. W., Stewart, S. M., & Dowers, K. L. (2015). Recruitment and hiring strategies of private practitioners and implications for practice management training of veterinary students. Journal of veterinary medical education, 42(2), 107-111.

Manu, T. (2017). Challenging the Validity of Patents: Stepping in Line with EPO and US Jurisprudence. IIC-International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, 48(7), 813-837. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40319-017-0633-7

Mcmillion, B. (2010). Who’s Who Legal. Retrieved 1 November, 2010, from http://whoswholegal.com/news/features/article/28369/is-better-resolve-patpent-dispute-court

Steele, J. (2016). Bay Area Hiring: Stiff Competition for Mediocre Talent. [Weblog]. Retrieved 1 November 2018, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/279976

Wallace, M., Lings, I., Cameron, R., & Sheldon, N. (2014). Attracting and retaining staff: the role of branding and industry image. In Workforce development

(pp. 19-36). Springer, Singapore.