NEW YORK–For insurers and reinsurers, a reassessment of the intellectual property already in a company's possession can provide tremendous additional value if properly accessed, according to industry experts at a conference here.

“There may be additional money on the table from these assets,” said Scott Weingust, an FTI director, one of the speakers during a panel session sponsored by FTI Consulting, New York.

Tapping into intellectual property owned by a company can not only provide monetary incentives but also can help a company achieve dominance in a particular sector of an industry, panelists said.

Elizabeth Pearce, a director in the Intellectual Property Group at AIG in New York, recounted the story of a reinsurance executive who left one company, saw how software was lacking in the company that he went to, and ended up returning to his original company. Upon his return, he recommended licensing that proprietary software, she said.

The motivation was as much to create an advantage that would result in a larger part of the market as it was a purely monetary goal, according to Ms. Pearce.

The advantage resulting from use of intellectual property may take different forms, she continued. For instance, it may result in a better contract or a more long-term relationship or a reinsurance deal that results from being able to leverage the reinsurance software.

Ms. Pearce said the life insurance area will experience a lot of activity in the future, but that the benefits of fully leveraging intellectual property extend to all types of insurance.

The reason the life sector could see more activity, she explained, is because of the new products that will be coming out on the market such as variations on annuities.

And, she said that currently many companies do not realize they have intellectual property that can be patented and licensed because they feel that if it is already out there as a general idea, it is not patent worthy.

Consequently, many of the ideas are being developed individually, she added. However, she continued, if there is a novel variation on a general idea, then, indeed, it might be patent worthy and needs further investigation.

Michael Bednarek, a partner with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, Washington, said that when a company contracts with a vendor for software, it must work out “who owns the IP that came about from the deal that you paid for.” The reason it is important, he noted, is because many vendors will sell the same software systems to different clients and maintain IP rights.

Ms. Pearce said when her unit at AIG was being formed, it included representatives from many areas of the company, including the corporate and legal areas, product development, e-business and other units of AIG, she said.

And events were created to honor inventors within the company and to give them access to leaders and management, Ms. Pearce related. Both recognition and access are valuable to inventors and innovators, she said.

FTI's Mr. Weingust said the participation of leadership underscores that in order to build a successful program around licensing, senior management must really support the idea.

Gerald DePardo, intellectual property counsel with The Travelers Companies, Hartford, Conn., said companies must stay on top of their intellectual property by evaluating the market around them and what patents other companies may be issuing–a process that may spark innovation in their own businesses.

Many insurance companies have a small IP staff in relation to the size of their operations, and consequently, people throughout the company should be “deputized” to help build the IP process, he said.

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