Your patents, trademarks, designs and plant variety rights which make up your Intellectual Property rights, form part of your intangible assets. Theft of these assets is much more common than most people realise. They should be insured like any other property and goods and chattels that you own.
Unlike the theft of your goods and chattels which is a criminal offence, the theft or infringement of your Intellectual Property rights will be treated as a civil case in a Court of Law. Unless you have the cash available to engage expert legal help to recover those rights then you will probably have to abandon them when they are stolen. Insuring your Intellectual Property rights and advertising that you are insured acts as a deterrent to stop others from stealing them and will provide you with the cash to pay the legal expenses associated with recovering those rights when they are stolen or infringed.
It is accepted practice to insure your property and your goods and chattels if you want to use them as security to raise capital.
It is also becoming more common for venture capital providers to invest only in potentially great ideas when they know that the patents that they are investing in are insured too. Many international distributors will only agree to act as your distributor when they know that you have either insurance or sufficient cash to protect them and your assets if a competitor attempts to copy the goods incorporating your patents which they are trying to sell on your behalf.
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