The Chartered Insurance Institute has produced good practice guidance to help insurers establish and manage their customers’ intellectual property rights.

The guide recommends insurers take a number of steps, including checking if intellectual property is registered and valued, performing a risk assessment of the intellectual property portfolio, and checking the wording of ownership and licensing agreements.

The guide - which can be downloaded from the CII website - also suggests checking available methods to resolve a dispute, such as the IPO Mediation Service which mediates matters relating to the full range of intellectual property (including patents, trademarks, designs, copyright, trade secrets and related commercial matters). The CII says that the advantages of using this service include a high success rate of resolution, confidentiality, plus quicker and cheaper resolutions than lengthy and costly litigation proceedings.

Matthew Connell, director of policy and public affairs of the Chartered Insurance Institute, said: “Given the central role that intellectual property plays in our economy, it is not surprising that organisations now invest more in intangible assets than they do in tangible assets.

“According to Office for National Statistics estimates, investment in intangible assets in 2018 stood at £169bn, £18bn more than tangible assets. It is inconceivable that any modern approach to risk management can ignore intellectual property and building trust with corporate and SME clients increasingly means understanding how these assets work.

“Whether mitigating these risks through insurance or other strategies, it is essential for risk professionals to be able to advise organisations on how to build and protect intellectual property.”

Share Story: