IP Insurance News Articles

The benefits of intellectual property infringement insurance

The Patent Lawyer Magazine - July / August 2023 edition

David Stitzel, M.S., Esq., Director of IP Insurance Solutions Consultants, details the available coverage and related advantages of having IP infringement insurance to protect and promote growth in your company.

There are many benefits to having IPISC Intellectual Property (IP) Infringement Defense and Enforcement Insurance coverage for your clients’ products and related IP assets. For example, our IP Infringement Defense/ Enforcement Insurance policies.

Patent troll threat recedes as threat to innovation, as Supreme Court considers whether or not PTAB panels are constitutional

by Eduardo Porter - New York Times, 21 November 2017

In August, real estate agents in Texas fended off a company’s demands for royalty payments for a feature of many websites: the ability to show prospective home buyers where local schools, parks and grocery stores are. Administrative law judges at the United States Patent and Trademark Office found that the patent claims were simply not valid. A few months before, in February, judges at the patent office put an end to “Project Paperless,” an attempt to extract royalties from small businesses using off-the-shelf scanners to scan documents to email. The litigants pressing for payment, the judges determined, had no right to the technology.

Yet Another Attempt by Congress to Solve the Patent Troll Problem - Part I

- by Robert Fletcher - IPISC

Two bills are pending in Congress that are intended to address the problem of abusive patent litigation, many times referred to as patent trolling. Patent Trolling is the disapproved, yet fully legal, practice involving the act of acquiring (typically over-broad) patents that serve as the basis of a lawsuit against an individual or a small company.Because patent litigation is very expensive, it is frequently cheaper for the accused to simply settle the lawsuit rather than go through extensive, expensive litigation even though a victory is possible. The patent assertion entities, i.e. those that practice patent trolling, are mostly interested in bringing suit and settling quickly.

New Patent Insurance Policy Will Help Members of the Assoc. of National Advisors to Fight Claims from "Trolls"

- Frankfurt Kurnet Klein, September 2015 (ANA is an IPISC client)

The insurance program will help advertisers manage the risk of claims from so-called Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), also known as “patent trolls.” PAEs are firms whose sole business function is to threaten or assert claims for patent infringement against targeted companies. PAEs have roiled the advertising industry by claiming ownership of common advertising practices, including QR codes, website store locators, the placement of facial images on animated body images, the placement of static ads in video streams, and the use of URLs in text messages to link viewers to web content.

The Hidden Risk of Venture Capital Investments

- by Curtis Droege, IPISC, March 2015

Venture Capitalists often invest where the opportunities align with their interests, but also where the opportunities for a favorable exit are greatest. The Software Technology sector certainly has opportunities for viral growth, but also has the greatest risk of patent litigation.
In this paper, we start with venture capital data by technology category, then apply our research to assess the U.S. litigation trends within these categories. It will be shown that the top three-quarters of Venture Capital investments are composed of only five technology sectors

Intellectual Property - What CFOs Need to Know

- IPISC, 2015

Companies are dependent upon Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) to provide accurate financial and risk management. As financial consultants, CFOs are encumbered with the responsibility of analyzing data, planning, managing and reporting the financial well-being of the company. Their principal goal is to convey financial results accurately and systematically while ensuring the viability of the company as well as meeting shareholder expectations. As risk managers, CFOs must grasp and maintain the company’s overall risk exposures. Many times, risk management is left to the CFO to recommend the most comprehensive insurance coverage to ensure the greatest risk mitigation for the company. Conversations should include the very intellectual property (IP) rights that are protecting the company’s assets. These intellectual property rights are in the form of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets; which, interestingly, may be needlessly at risk if IP becomes involved in litigation. The inability to protect IP is a leading cause of the revenue shortfall and failure for companies.

Intellectual Property Insurance - What StartUps Need to Know

- FounderShield, December 2014

Intellectual property is a big topic for the startup community.  With modern patent trolls, content syndication, and intellectual property law reform, the topic can be confusing at minimum.  Many founders look to insurance to mitigate this risk – and properly so – as there are many insurance products out there that help.  Here’s a breakdown of the types of insurance that cover IP: their costs, benefits, and limitations.

Protect your company from patent litigation with IP insurance

- by Robert Fletcher, in ExpertBeacon, September 2014

Companies—especially individual entrepreneurs, startups, and companies that are small to mid-sized—generally do not have the resources necessary to enforce their IP rights (patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets). Nor are they set up for defending against infringers trying to take market share or force them into unfavorable settlement terms and/or putting them out of business. IP-specific insurance policies help financially protect companies and entrepreneurs who are forced to defend their business activities and/or protect their intellectual property rights through the legal system.

Managing Risk with IP Insurance

- by Robert Fletcher, in IP Litigator, Nov/Dec 2013

When a company takes into account their most important asset, its financial driver, more often than not the resounding logic is its intellectual property (IP). Companies rely on IP rights, made up of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secret laws, to foster a competitive advantage and to keep it viable in an everchanging, competitive economy.

Are CEOs and Insurers Finally Ready to Embrace Intellectual Property Insurance?

- Amy O'Connor, in Insurance Journal, September 2013

The small yet complicated niche of patent and intellectual property (IP) insurance has seen more interest lately as patent claims rise and companies look to protect their ideas or company trade secrets from so-called patent trolls and infringement lawsuits.

While IP insurance is becoming more important, the insurance market has had a hard time accepting this risk, although that could be starting to change, say experts.

Nutrition Industry Protecting Intellectual Property

- Amy O'Connor, in Insurance Journal, September 2013

From dietary supplements to all-natural and organic foods and beverages, the nutrition industry has generally managed to avoid the pitfalls of the recent recession, as evidenced by its growth in 2010, which topped $101 billion in sales. Concerns over food safety, the increasingly high cost of health care, an aging population of Baby Boomers and numerous economic changes have all contributed to the solid growth experienced by the nutrition industry. This extremely competitive industry of researchers and developers is constantly on a quest for the next innovative product, aimed at improving overall nutrition and enhancing the quality of life.

Intellectual Property Insurance: Coverage that Fits the Risk

- by Robert Fletcher, in Insurance Journal, June 2011:wq

Many Companies are unaware that the insurance they purchase may not protect their most valuable assets, intellectual property (IP). That’s because most insurence policies exclude intellectual property, especially patent.

Tenth Circuit Continues the Ambiguity of "Advertising Injury" under CGL policies to cover patent lawsuits

- by Robert Fletcher, National Law Review, 2011

The Tenth Circuit handed down a message in a recent case brought by DISH Network against its Commercial General Liability (CGL) carriers, where DISH had been sued on patents claiming call center technology.
Although unlikely, some CGL policies may still be interpreted to have some coverage for patent infringement claims if the patent is claimed to be on a way of advertising a product. In DISH Network Corp. v. Arch Specialty Ins. Co., __F.3d__ No. 10-1445 (10th Cir. Oct. 17, 2011), DISH argued that the CGL coverage for “advertising injury” was potentially triggered by the asserted patents’ claims which purportedly included advertising or product promotion.

Nutrition Industry Leading the Way by Protecting Intellectual Property

- by Robert Fletcher, IPISC, 2011

Companies—especially individual entrepreneurs, startups, and companies that are small to mid-sized—generally do not have the resources necessary to enforce their IP rights (patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets). Nor are they set up for defending against infringers trying to take market share or force them into unfavorable settlement terms and/or putting them out of business. IP-specific insurance policies help financially protect companies and entrepreneurs who are forced to defend their business activities and/or protect their intellectual property rights through the legal system.

Patent Insurance: Pricey, But May be Worth It

- by Marius Meland, Law360, February 2006 (based on inaccurate data)

By Marius Meland (February 3, 2006)
In 2004, Genetic Technologies won a victory over Applera Corporation, the largest supplier of genetic equipment, because Genetic had the foresight to take out insurance on a series of patents over the noncoding parts of DNA that were originally thought to be irrelevant. The insurance fully funded the legal actions, preventing the company from buckling under litigation expenses. Genetic Technologies’ experience shows that patent insurance can be a saving grace for companies that stand to lose their footing if such litigation arises. But such insurance isn’t right for everyone, and companies should carefully consider their options before they sign the dotted…

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