Rest Insured How the right insurance policy can protect you in a patent lawsuit

Here's an eye-opening fact: In the 1997 EconomicSurvey by the American Intellectual Property Law Association(IPLA), the median cost of litigating a patent infringement lawsuitthrough trial can range from $300,000 to $3 million.

Intellectual property litigation is one of the most expensiveforms of litigation in our country. So what can a strapped-for-cashentrepreneur do when he or she needs to defend the most valuableasset of his or her fledgling company?

There is good news, but first let's lay a little groundwork.Once you are issued a patent by the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice (PTO), you immediately have the right to exclude others fromthe manufacture, use or sale of your patented product. However,once your idea is patented, it's vulnerable to legalchallenges. Your patent can be attacked and possibly invalidated,thus rendering it worthless. It's up to you to enforce anddefend it. If you choose not to, however, your intellectualproperty rights will be abandoned and possibly lost forever.