Seven Questions Intellectual Property Owners Should Ask Regarding Insurance Coverage

The following seven propositions illustrate important issues which intellectual property owners need to be aware of to maximize the value of those assets. They include:

1. What claims you assert in litigation your opponents right to a defense and indemnity under their insurance coverage.

2. What insurance coverage will litigation against your company trigger that benefits its interests?

3. What new forms of insurance coverage are available to IPOs that will expand opportunities to transfer litigation costs to its insurers?

4. Can an insurance coverage audit reveal hidden opportunities to recapture monies paid for defense fees/settlements and/or judgments under existing insurance policies and, given the exposure revealed by a review of past coverage opportunities, is the present insurance portfolio properly attuned to risks your company now confronts.

5. Does the company’s history of acquisitions, joint venture relationships and other forms of corporate interaction expand the coverage opportunities available to it in a manner that requires revisitation of the potential for coverage under previously filed and existent lawsuits?

6. Can knowledge of insurance coverage help corporations reallocate risks arising from licensing activities to better assure against problems posed by defaulting or underperforming licensees?

7. Is the company’s existing coverage for corporate counsel adequate, and can new efforts be taken to track corporate litigation monitoring costs to better preserve their recapture as part of their insurers defense obligations?