The ANA to Provide Patent Troll Insurance
ANA Patent Infringement Defense Insurance now available to all ANA members
NEW YORK – August 11, 2015 – The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) has launched an insurance program to protect marketers against the expense of Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), often known as “patent trolls.”
PAEs are firms with the sole business purpose of launching patent claims against targeted companies which can then cost millions of dollars of fees to defend.
In the advertising space, PAEs have been increasingly in the news by claiming ownership of many common advertising practices, including using QR codes to direct a mobile device user to web content and putting a store locator on a website.
To address this issue, the ANA is introducing a program to provide members with focused patent infringement defense insurance protection for marketing and advertising activities. The insurance will permit the insured party to challenge the validity of the patent, or otherwise defend against the assertion, with greatly reduced out-of-pocket expenses.
Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the ANA, commented: “Patent trolls have been a growing issue for in the advertising industry in recent years, costing advertisers and agencies millions of dollars in fees in order to avoid paying even more to defend themselves in court. In order to offer a level of protection to members, we are introducing ANA Patent Infringement Defense Insurance.”
The ANA’s Patent Insurance Program kicks off this week and full details of coverage is explained on the ANA’s website.
About the ANA
The mission of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) is to drive growth for marketing professionals, brands and businesses, the industry, and humanity. The ANA serves the marketing needs of 20,000 brands by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed by the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA’s membership consists of U.S. and international companies, including client-side marketers, nonprofits, fundraisers, and marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). The ANA creates Marketing Growth Champions by serving, educating, and advocating for more than 50,000 industry members that collectively invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.