Cybersecurity is of significantly increasing concern, both to businesses and government. Recent widely reported cybersecurity breaches have further heightened awareness of this issue. Government regulators, like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have pressed for greater cybersecurity efforts—with the latter’s authority in this area being recently upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide, — F.3d — (3d Cir. 2015).
Much of the expert advice on how to analyze and bolster cybersecurity suggests major involvement of the business’ management, and overlaps with assessment of the business’ intellectual property (IP) positions and strategies. Such overlaps suggest that significant synergy and efficiencies can be achieved if cybersecurity and intellectual property efforts are coordinated. As cybersecurity becomes an increasing concern for many companies, increased involvement of IP counsel in strategy determinations becomes not only appropriate, but will likely be demanded by their clients. In this article we examine commonalities and differences between both types of efforts and how IP counsel can work together with the business’ cybersecurity team to service a client.
