Even though data is a vital resource for practically every business, it must be protected, especially when it crosses corporate boundaries like those found in value-added networks. This brief communication examines the growing significance of intellectual property protection in the context of collaboration among equal partners (data sharing). A suggested procedure for protecting intellectual property entails a full decision-making process, which includes identifying the intellectual property through process analysis, classifying its level of security and utilization, determining its threads, and ultimately selecting the best protection methods and tools. In preparation to a workshop, we address the main issues and challenges. We introduce and discuss further the emergence of the digital responsibility and the sovereign data spaces and their potential impact to the industrial processes in the manufacturing industry. Along the process chain, risks will be noted and potential solutions will be shown.