E-COMMERCE & INSURANCE LAW

Abstract

Property risks are those that affect either personal or real property. For an average individual, property such as their own house involves a lot of investment. The same goes for others who invest large amount of money in commercial property and businesses. In modern times, because of the increased use of internet, web and computers, there has been a growing significance in the field of e- commerce property risks. Businesses with a web presence offer professional services online and they are open to a lot of security risks in the form of hardware/software thefts, trademark infringements, domain name hijacking, cyber- squatting, web-site hijacking etc. The increased frequency and severity of e-commerce property risks has given rise to specialised fields of insurance coverage to safeguard and protect these property rights such as Intellectual Property Insurance. Intellectual Property coverage protects an individual, company or business (an idea, innovation etc) from losses that may arise from copyright, trademark or patent infringement. It also intends protection from libel, slander, unfair competition and misappropriation of advertising ideas1 . In current scenario, when the provisions of intellectual property insurance is only in its beginning stage and gaining momentum, it is not shocking to discover that when it comes to providing clear coverage for trademark infringement claims, the insurance industry is doing a poor job. It is an important field which needs more attention and development since internet marketing and branding is on rapid rise and comes with a lot of benefits both to consumers and business owners in today’s fast paced world.