The federal government will not, or cannot, protect small and medium-sized manufacturer’s intellectual property (IP) from foreign entities. So often, foreign businesses will illegally acquire American manufactures private IP to gain an unfair competitive advantage over businesses here at home. Until recently, there was no where these small and medium-sized manufacturers could turn for help when data or trade secrets were stolen. But now, The National Alliance for Jobs and Innovation (NAJI) has come to the aid of SME’s and this initiative has already produced some amazing results.
NAJI is a nonpartisan organization which consist of manufacturers, associations, academics, and other businesses that work together to help protect the IP, tools and technology U.S. businesses need to compete, innovative and thrive in this increasingly competitive global market. This is a state initiative in which state Attorney Generals take action where the Federal government has failed. In just two years, they have won seven different cases, raking in $5 million for these businesses, that were victims of IP theft. NAJI provides all of their services at no cost to the manufacturer and will fight for your business’ rights every step of the way.
Many manufacturers don’t know that this incredible program even exists. Manufacturers that have their IP stolen so often don’t know where to turn when their private information is stolen and are left to compete against essentially their own product or innovative process. But now, state Attorneys General (AG) have realized there is a serious injustice being done and they have stepped up to take action. Using the states’ consumer protection status an AG can take action against overseas companies to protect manufacturers working in their states. They often have the power to halt the shipment of products made using stolen IP into their state, delivering a devastating blow to these criminal overseas manufacturers which rely on the profitable USA market.
The ultimate goal of NAJI is to create a global marketplace where manufacturers and businesses of any sizes can compete fairly without being impacted by rampant IP and data theft.
We recently had Drew Greenblatt, NAJI Chairman, as a guest of Manufacturing Talk Radio (click here for latest show), to discuss the needs of SME’s in Nevada, trying to bring some awareness to the issues these businesses face, and help their voice be heard by the presidential candidates. This presidential race has unfortunately been missing a key point, the focus on American manufacturing, the backbone of the national economy. He stated that the government “has gone AWOL”, avoiding the needs of this incredibly important sector. After the show, we spoke with Drew on the phone and he informed us about this NAJI and expressed the federal government is nowhere to be found on this issue as well. The service this incredible organization provides to SME’s is absolutely wonderful and we highly suggest if your business has been a victim of IP theft to report the problem to NAJI .
No longer do manufacturers need to sit back and watch their hard work benefit overseas competitors. NAJI offers a means by which businesses can take action against these illegal and harmful activities. We highly suggest if you own an SME, take a look and learn more about NAJI as well as Drew Greenblatt’s other initiative the Power of Small , two great initiatives with the needs of small and medium-sized manufacturers in mind.
More Information Available here:
NAJI: http://naji.org/
Power of Small: http://www.nam.org/Power-of-Small/
