Fighting trolls from the front foot

Patent risk—which manifests itself almost entirely as costly litigation surrounding infringement claims between companies or between a company and a ‘patent troll’—has long been very difficult to accurately predict, quantify and underwrite. As a result, patent insurance has been far from effective for policyholders and issuers alike. Providing coverage in the form of proactive risk mitigation (rather than simply a reaction to adverse events) can change this dynamic.