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> The insurance would cost more than the expected cost of the litigation which is of course how insurance works. The key with the patent system is that you have
by peeters 10y ago
> The insurance would cost more than the expected cost of the litigation which is of course how insurance works. The key with the patent system is that you have to pay millions to defend yourself, but it's exceptionally rare to be able to recover attorney's fees even if you win.
If enough people buy insurance to make sure that the patent trolls never win, then there's no money to be made and the lawyers stop suing. So the price of insurance goes down. It's not like insuring against tornados, which are going to happen regardless of whether the houses are insured. Furthermore, you can state up front "IP Lawsuit Coverage provided by XXX" as a disincentive for people to sue their members in the first place.
- granos 10y agoThey don't even have to never win. It just has to cost them enough that their margin is smaller than that of some other venture.
- gozur88 10y agoYes. Their business model relies on the fact most people will settle if the offer is about the same cost as a successful defense or less. If they actually had to litigate all these cases they could never make money. My impression is they'd rather not go to court, since there's always a chance they could have their patent busted.