We have extensive experience helping insurance companies manage the risk they face in connection with third-party IP rights. We also routinely help insurance companies pursue IP protection for their own innovations. With a large number of our attorneys admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, we provide the broad strength and depth of representation needed in managing your IP assets.

Your Challenges Are Met With Service and Solutions
Our service strengths include:

• Patents
• Business method patents
• Trademarks
• Copyrights
• Licensing
• Transfer agreements
• Trade secrets
• Strategic counseling and portfolio development
• Merger and acquisition IP due diligence

In addition to comprehensive client services, our attorneys help your managers make the best IP decisions to meet both your short- and long-term goals. Our attorneys use their industry knowledge, training, and commercial experience to save our clients time and money, while ensuring that their new developments receive the proper legal protection.

Insurance-Related Business Method Patents
Foley has extensive experience with business method patents for the insurance industry. Services include:

• Identification of valuable and potentially patentable business methods
• Preparation and prosecution of business method patents
• Validity and infringement analysis of business method patents
• Litigation involving business method patents
• Valuation of business methods and business method patents

In 1998, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) formally pronounced that business method patents are patentable subject matter in State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc. So-called “business method” patents are now being routinely sought by insurance companies which are directed toward new, useful, and non-obvious ways of:

• Underwriting coverage and assessing risk
• Bundling features into insurance products
• Interacting with customers/agents on Web sites
• Predicting claims/losses
• Processing insurance claims
• Detecting and preventing insurance fraud
• Adjudicating insurance claims
• Managing annuities and other investments
• Selling insurance

Foley's Top-Ranked IP Practice
For several consecutive years, Foley has been ranked as a top 10 patent litigation firm by IP Law & Business magazine. Foley placed in the top of each of the survey's categories:

• Ranked #4 in total number of patent cases
• Ranked #3 in representing plaintiffs
• Ranked #6 in representing defendants

IP Law360 and IP Today both ranked Foley among the top firms in utility patents issued — making Foley the only general practice firm that has consistently appeared in the top 10 for both IP litigation and patent procurement and demonstrating that our clients trust Foley to provide them with complete IP solutions.

Foley offers our clients exceptional legal counsel and outstanding client service. From IP management, counseling, and patent and trademark prosecution to enforcement and litigation, we are among the few law firms that take a holistic approach to addressing clients' IP and business needs, and are capable of delivering the results.