Funds to enforce your patent rights

You have a product in the marketplace protected by one or more patents that have cost you thousands of dollars to obtain but in reality this is only the start of protecting your product from competitors.

"Patents are not worth anything if they are infringed but unenforced. Unfortunately, most investors are not in the position to do anything about it. A patent is the right to sue-a pretty empty threat if an inventor or company does not have sufficient resources to back it up"
-says Alexander Poltorak, founder of General Patent Corporation, in the book "Making Innovation Pay".

Now the time has come. This is when "the rubber meets the road",  someone is infringing on your patent rights. They are in the market with a infringing, competing product. You have two choices, ignore the infringement thereby losing your patent rights and market share or enforce your rights.

If you choose to enforce your rights the question is, do you have about $2 million to pay for the possible litigation costs? If not, where do you get the money? Here are the least attractive choices:

• Get a bank loan. Unlikely since banks don't like to fund lawsuits. Also, it will limit your ability to finance company growth.
• Find a law firm to take the case on a contingent fee basis and pay about 40% of the award plus expenses.

There is a better way, you had the foresight to purchase Enforcement Insurance. This insurance coverage is available to provide the funds when it is necessary to enforce your IP rights. It is less expensive than a bank loan typically costing 1-2% of the amount of coverage purchased.