IPOS rolls out insurance for intellectual property rights holders

It aims to cover legal expenses incurred in IP infringement proceedings worldwide.

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), Lloyd’s Asia and Antares Underwriting Asia have unveiled insurance services for intellectual property (IP) rights holders called the Intellectual Property Insurance Initiative for Innovators (IPIII), an announcement revealed.

IPIII will give enterprises insurance coverage for legal expenses that may be incurred in intellectual property infringement proceedings worldwide. Under IPIII, enterprises and innovators with a Singapore patent, trademark or registered design can take up an insurance policy with substantial cost savings that pays the legal costs of enforcing IP rights or defending against allegations of IP infringement.

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The policy is underwritten by Antares Underwriting Asia, on behalf of Syndicate 1274 at Lloyd’s of London.

“This initiative comes at a time when value in the global economy is increasingly created in the form of intangible assets. For the first time in history, global intangible value surpassed US$50t in 2018, making up more than half of the global economy,” IPOS noted.

In advanced economies such as the US, more than 80% of enterprise value of S&P 500 is already in the form of intangible assets, IPOS cited. These trends are increasingly driven by Asian economies, with Asian IP filings growing at the compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7% from 2007 to 2017, which is twice as fast as the rest of the world.

“Insuring IP is still nascent to a market that has witnessed multimillion-dollar patent litigation and trade disputes over IP theft. The new insurance initiative is timely in a global economy increasingly powered by the new currency of intangible assets,” Bernard Ong, IPOS’ group director for policy & engagement, said.