Use of Company Property including Intellectual Property: US

This Use of Company Property (including Intellectual Property) policy sets clear expectations for how employees should use, protect, and return your organization's equipment, systems, and work product, including source code, designs, documentation, trademarks, and other proprietary materials. It also helps reduce real-world risk, like data loss, theft, and unauthorized access, by spelling out practical safeguards for office and remote work.

The History Behind Use of Company Property including Intellectual Property Policies in US

Use of company equipment and business know-how became a legal issue once work stopped being tied to a single physical workplace and started living on laptops, servers, and portable media. The caretaking of Company Property & Confidential Information grew in importance as employers dealt with departing employees who kept access to files, reused code, or walked out with customer lists and product plans. Early guidelines came from state trade secret law, and later from the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which pushed employers to show they took "reasonable" steps to protect trade secrets if they wanted court protection.

Federal law added sharper tools as computers became the default place where work happened. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act gave employers a way to pursue claims tied to unauthorized access to protected computers, but courts split for years on what "exceeds authorized access" means when an employee already has login credentials. The Supreme Court narrowed that theory in Van Buren v. United States (2021), which made access-based controls and clear permission boundaries matter more than broad "misuse" arguments. Employers responded by tightening device rules, access management, and return-of-property expectations, because judges increasingly asked basic questions like who had permission, what they were told, and what controls were in place.

Modern IP-heavy work made the "who owns what" question unavoidable, especially in software, media, biotech, and any business with a meaningful R&D budget. The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 then created a federal civil cause of action for trade secret theft and added a whistleblower immunity notice requirement if you want certain remedies, so policy language increased in importance. Remote work and BYOD programs then turned routine off-boarding into a security event, because company data could sit in personal cloud accounts, home networks, and personal devices. That mix of legal standards and leakage risk is why US employers now treat clear rules on equipment, access, and intellectual property as table stakes.

Which Law is the Use of Company Property including Intellectual Property Policy Meant to Comply With?

If you create and distribute an Use of Company Property including Intellectual Property Policy for your US-based employees, you should ensure it complies with the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA), Pub. L. 114-153 and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. 1030).

How to Write a Use of Company Property including Intellectual Property Policy

• Start with "why" and lay out the basics: employees should use and care for your organization's physical and digital property responsibly and follow applicable instructions and safety standards.
• State that your organization's intellectual property and proprietary materials can't be used, copied, or shared without authorization.
• Require employees to promptly report lost, stolen, or damaged property.
• Require secure storage and reasonable safeguards to prevent damage, loss, theft, and unauthorized access, including for remote work.
• Require return of all property at separation and prohibit any post-employment access, use, or sharing without written authorization.

When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook

The law does not require you to publish a policy or issue a specific notice. That said, you still have to comply with the requirements that apply to you as an employer. 

Even when notice is not required, this is still the kind of policy most employers should put in their handbook or otherwise publish to employees. It answers a question employees will ask, sets expectations, and gives managers a consistent script. If you do not include it, you will end up explaining it ad hoc, and that is when inconsistency, resentment, and accidental noncompliance shows up. 

Other Considerations

The law applies to US employers who have at least 1 employee in the US.

Exceptions

None.