Accreditation Tip: Intellectual Property

The revised AMC Standard of Good Practices for the Association Management Company industry (an ANSI Standard) includes a new requirement for accredited AMCs regarding Intellectual Property (3.6).  Did you know Intellectual Property includes areas such as copyright, trademark, cyber security, software, patents, contracts and music licensing?  What information should be included in your Intellectual Property policy?

This month we'll take a look at the client/AMC ownership rights in material and software systems.  Your company' s intellectual property policy should include procedures that address:

 

• Ownership of the software/software licenses - Client or AMC?  The client may own the data but may or may not own the software.  
• Materials created by an AMC, if created specifically for the client, belong to the client.

Addressing these important points in your client contracts will provide clarification and prevent confusion when the relationship comes to an end.

 

The policy should  also contain procedures  that outline how the AMC will advise the client on the protection of intellectual property. These areas include:

 

• Copyright 
• Trademark
• Patents
• Trade Secrets

Watch for next month's newsletter when we venture into specific items related to Copyrights.