TGIF for Sarbanes-Oxley I/P Requirements

According to an interview in The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, under the heightened level of scrutiny for coroprate governance under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (particularly Sections 302, 404, and 409) all publicly held companies must conduct regular audits - at least once per year - of their IP assets, and to report on any material changes to those assets likely to impact the company's financial operations and well-being.

According to the interviewee, companies must at least annually (if not more often) follow a process for determining what intellectual property exists, what the strengths and weaknesses of its pool of IP property are, and what changes have transpired since the last reporting period. As a result of SOX, there also has to be training for those at the company who are charged with developing, identifying, and assessing the value of IP.

Click here for more information on a free training program for your employees, and click here for a proactive apprach to intellectual property lawyering that addresses these requirements, along with strategic I/P legal sourcing, and metrics.

And, of course, please feel free to contact me for more information on these issues.

Thank Goodness It's Friday (the Thirteenth),

--Bill Heinze (e-mail, v-card)