RPX Launches New “A” Rated NPE Patent Litigation Insurance with Lloyd’s

RPX subsidiary approved as a coverholder at Lloyd’s

RPX Corporation (NASDAQ: RPXC), the leading provider of patent risk management solutions today launched a new insurance service for businesses facing patent infringement litigation with non-practicing entities (NPEs). As a coverholder at Lloyd’s, RPX Insurance Services, LLC will provide marketing, underwriting, and claims management services on behalf of a syndicate at Lloyd’s. As part of its entry to this new service, RPX has formed a reinsurance company that will share a portion of the underwritten risk.

Any company today that provides a technology-based product or service is at risk from the growing threat of NPEs, also known by the “patent troll” moniker. RPX’s insurance solution focuses on the underlying causes of NPE risk. Through proactive market intervention, RPX reduces risk exposure by acquiring patents before NPEs can assert them against its network of 168 clients. The company has deployed more than $100 million annually to acquire patents in each of the past six years. This acquisition activity has led to companies in the RPX network receiving more than 430 dismissals from over 60 litigations. Using the unique data from this industry-leading acquisition activity to drive its actuarial model and underwriting methodology, RPX can model patent risk for policyholders and offer effective risk transfer.

“Our approval as a coverholder at Lloyd’s further endorses our unique approach, and paves the way for RPX to offer a mainstream insurance product that could become as widely accepted as D&O or cyber liability coverage. We hope this RPX solution can enable patent risk to become a reasonable and predictable line item in companies’ budgets, as opposed to the highly unpredictable risk it is today,” said John A. Amster, Chief Executive and Co-founder of RPX.

NPE patent litigation costs companies worldwide almost $13 billion in defense expenses and settlements last year, up from roughly $5 billion in 2008. Also, RPX research shows the volume of NPE patent suits over the past five years increased nearly 600%, from approximately 600 in 2008 to more than 3,600 in 2013, impacting approximately 8,000 companies in the same period.

As of December 31, 2013, RPX had invested over $750 million to acquire more than 4,200 US and international patent assets and rights on behalf of the 168 members of its client network in seven key sectors: consumer electronics and PCs, E-commerce and software, financial services, media content and distribution, mobile communications and devices, networking, and semiconductors.

Lloyd’s currently enjoys an “A” rating from AM Best and A+ ratings from Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s.