Intellectual Property Insurance
You've effectively navigated your patent application through to grant. Excellent! Production gears up, sales soar - everything seems perfect. However, this ideal scenario suddenly takes a turn when your ingenious creation has attracted such favourable attention that the 'dreaded competitor' decides they want a slice of the success and begins to infringe your patent rights. Under the best circumstances, infringement disputes can be amicably and promptly resolved through reasonable settlements or licensing arrangements. But what do you do if infringement disputes don’t go to plan?
IP litigation cases can have damaging effects on businesses. Legal action can be time consuming, demanding and involve significant cost. If trademarks, designs, patents or trade secrets are a big part of your business, but you are concerned your company may not have the funds to enforce your IP rights, then IP insurance is a fantastic way to mitigate the financial risks and safeguard your competitive advantage.
Benefits of IP Insurance:
- Advertising the existence of an IP policy can deter potential infringers.
- Can encourage early settlement rather than litigation.
- Policies can cover all IP aspects both registered (patents, design and trademarks) and unregistered (copyright and confidential information).
- Protects businesses cashflow by enabling proper financial provision for IP disputes.
- Enables you to be decisive in enforcement or defence actions without the fear of depleting cash reserves.
- Has the potential to increase the value of your IP, as licensees, lenders and investors recognise the assurance of avoiding costly legal measures to protect business’s value.
- The cost of specialised IP insurance products has observed a decrease in recent years, with "before the event" insurance coverage now more affordable than ever before.
Safeguard IP, a specialist broker of IP insurance, was founded in 2015 by ex-Patent and Trade Mark Litigator, David Bloom. Here he explains why IP Insurance is an important consideration for businesses.
“The insurance market is adapting to the growing needs of IP rights holders. As inherent risks to the value of IP grow, insurers are delivering solutions that mitigate these risks with premiums that have never been so competitive. The key issue is one of awareness as the majority of companies do not know these policies even exist. The sooner IP-rich businesses become aware of the options available to them, the better they can futureproof and protect the value of their intellectual property”
IP insurance can help with the legal costs, expenses and damages associated with expensive IP litigation around the world. Coverage can extend to trademarks and patents oppositions in the UK, EU, and US, along with disputes surrounding title and breaches of IP agreements such as NDAs,. Additionally, contractual warranties and indemnities given by licensors can be covered to help facilitate the completion of such arrangements .