# ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.5.32 — Intellectual property rights

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-32-intellectual-property-rights
- Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022) › Organizational controls
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**ISO/IEC 27001:2022**·Annex A `A.5.32`·medium·Component: **Organizational controls**

## What this control requires

> The organization shall implement appropriate procedures to protect intellectual property rights.
> 
> — ISO/IEC 27001:2022, Annex A A.5.32

### In plain English

The organization shall implement appropriate procedures to protect intellectual property rights. In practice, this means you can prove you policy management-level controls on a defined cadence.

## Why it matters

ISO 27001 certification depends on showing each Annex A control is either implemented or explicitly justified for exclusion in the Statement of Applicability (SoA). Certification bodies sample controls during surveillance audits, and a missing SoA entry — or implementation that doesn't match the SoA wording — is a finding.

## What an auditor looks for

An ISO 27001 lead auditor looks for: (1) an SoA entry covering the control with justification, (2) a documented procedure or policy implementing it, (3) records that prove the procedure runs (logs, tickets, training records) and (4) management-review evidence that effectiveness is monitored.

Within **Organizational controls**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Annex A A.5.32) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

#### Policy Management

**Docs.** Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA.

### Operational checklist

-   **Policy.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Management.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Intellectual.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Protect.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** management, rights, property rights, implement.

## Evidence to collect

-   **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Intellectual property rights.

## Common pitfalls

-   Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced.

## How it maps to other frameworks

Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit.

-   [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC2.3** — External Communication on Internal Control Matters](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/cc2-3-external-communication-on-internal-control-matters)
-   [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.312(a)(1)** — Access Control](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-312-a-1-access-control)
-   [**ISO/IEC 42001:2023 A.2.2** — Policies for the responsible development or use of AI systems](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-42001-2023/a-2-2-policies-for-the-responsible-development-or-use-of-ai-systems)
-   [**GDPR Article 1** — Subject-matter and objectives](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/gdpr/article-1-subject-matter-and-objectives)
-   [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.13.15** — Session Authenticity](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-13-15-session-authenticity)

## Related controls in ISO/IEC 27001:2022

-   [**Annex A A.5.5** — Contact with authorities](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-5-contact-with-authorities)
-   [**Annex A A.5.13** — Labelling of information](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-13-labelling-of-information)
-   [**Annex A A.5.30** — ICT readiness for business continuity](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-30-ict-readiness-for-business-continuity)
-   [**Annex A A.5.37** — Documented operating procedures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-37-documented-operating-procedures)
-   [**Annex A A.5.1** — Policies for information security](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-1-policies-for-information-security)
-   [**Annex A A.5.3** — Segregation of duties](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-3-segregation-of-duties)

## References

-   [ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27 — ISO/IEC 27001:2022](https://www.iso.org/standard/27001)
-   Catalogue identifier: `Annex A A.5.32`

Topics: governance riskpolicy management

## Related compliance guidance

- [ISO/IEC 27001:2022 compliance: a practical implementation guide](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022): Start with the full ISO 27001 implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs.
- [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Most companies that hold ISO 27001 also need a SOC 2 report for North American customers, and the two share most of their technical controls.