ECBM's Blog: Information To Protect What You Grow

Intellectual property increasingly constitutes a significant portion of the value of most businesses.  Businesses, as a result, have become quicker to sue to protect their intellectual property.  Copyright lawsuits and other types of infringement claims can be very expensive.  The attorney’s fees alone in such suits can easily surpass two or three million dollars even when they involve small businesses.  The mere act of defending a copyright lawsuit can easily put a company out of business before the merits of the case are even decided.  The extent to which intellectual property infringement claims are insurable depends on the jurisdiction of the suit, the nature of the claimed infringement and the policies involved.  

While the world focused on the WannaCry ransomware attacks in early May, a number of news stories broke highlighting a different kind of cybersecurity ransom.  Ransomware such as WannaCry lock you out from accessing your own files and will not give access back until you pay the ransom.  More industrious and targeted hackers however prefer to steal specific targeted files and threaten to either release them publicly or sell them to competitors if a company does not pay the ransom.

The costs of pursuing or defending yourself in copyright, patent, or trademark infringement lawsuits can be jaw-dropping.  Even in cases where the amount in controversy does not reach seven figures- litigation costs can be over a half million dollars. 

The Energy Industry continuously develops new procedures and products. The upsurge in computer software technology developed specifically for energy related tasks, leaves the developers open for an intellectual property suit. How can this happen? Say your company has developed this new type of software or product that will aid the fracking industry. You file for a patent and it appears everything is fine. Then a competitor files a suit accusing you of using his idea. Will your company have the ability to write a check for over $500,000. to pay to defend the suit? Right now would be a good time to have the proper insurance coverage.