Week 2Intellectual property, including trade secrets, patents, copyrights, and trademarks, is a key component of my business. Clients consult us and hire us to promote their products and services. Information regarding new products, unique formulas and other trade secrets is entrusted to us, and many clients require the agency to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to protect their proprietary information. Our employees are also bound by this non-disclosure agreement, even if they leave the company. Customers should feel that their information is safe, secure and respected. When I worked at The Hershey Company, vendors had to sign an NDA before even telling employees about their services. This protected the employee from inadvertently sharing too much during a meeting and allowed the vendors to fully assess our needs and offer a proposition of their services that addressed specific needs. Interestingly, the NDA Hershey requested by Hershey was a one-sided document. Many suppliers have required Hershey to sign a mutual NDA and/or make changes or amendments to the document. In my three years at Hershey, every mutual NDA request was denied and I only saw one change approved by the legal department. Brands are also an important part of the daily operations of my business. Special attention must be paid to the appropriate use of trademarks and copyrights when creating advertisements and articles for publication in print and online. If hired to create a logo or corporate identity, our agency must ensure that a brand is "distinct enough to allow consumers to easily identify the production of the goods and to distinguish between those goods and competing products" (Clarkson, Miller, & Cr. ..... middle of paper...... wire fraud Of course, any organization that accepts payments is exposed to embezzlement by an "enterprising" accountant or accounts receivable clerk there is no way to prevent any of these. crimes entirely, guided by an ethical example with no sliding scale, set the precedence that any unethical, let alone illegal, act will not be tolerated pre-employment agreements would also help reduce any illegal acts training, which I believe is necessary to discourage the “I didn't know” excuse regarding illegal or ethical behavior. New employees should be reviewed after 30 days, 90 days and then on an annual basis unless there are behavioral or performance issues. that require follow-up. Works Cited Clarkson, K. W., Miller, R. L., & Cross, F. B. (2012). Commercial Law: Text and Cases (12 ed.). Mason, Ohio: Cengage.