When Should You Buy Intellectual Property Abatement Insurance?

Understanding what Intellectual Property Abatement Insurance covers

Inventors, patent holders and current product liability clients seeking insurance that to protect their intellectual property rights should purchase Intellectual Property Abatement Insurance. Intellectual Property Abatement Insurance covers litigation expenses up to the policy limit that are incurred when suing infringers. The limit is typically $100,000 to $3 million.

How much is your product worth?

A insurance carrier’s perspective is that they want you to have some skin in the game. They want you to share a large portion of the expense so you’ll be thoughtful about choosing cases that are winnable. Many look at the insurance carrier as a deep pocket to sue every business that may have a similar patent or products. If your product has potential to earn millions of dollars in future revenue, Intellectual Property Abatement Insurance is a small price to pay to protect your interest.

When to buy Intellectual Property Abatement Insurance

My advice for those looking to purchase Intellectual Property Abatement Insurance is always the same. Only insure patents that have the potential to make you very rich.   Intellectual Abatement Insurance does potentially provide you with financial resources that you otherwise would not have access to.

However,  it also requires that you pay a large part of the expenses to prosecute offenders of your intellectual property rights.  Typically, the deductible is 2% or more and co-insurance is 20% or higher.  In other words, if your insurance carrier spends $100,000 going after a company that infringed on your intellectual property or patent in court, you’ll be responsible for slightly more than $20,000 of that expense.