Intellectual Property Analysis of Progressive’s U.S. Patent No. 7,124,088

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On January 12, 2011, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against a group of its competitors. The suit claims that Allstate, Liberty Mutual and Safeco have all infringed on Progressive’s U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,124,088 (hereafter ‘088) and 6,064,970. The patents in question describe and protect an online insurance policy system and vehicle monitoring system. Two weeks after the lawsuit was filed using patent ‘088, a continuation of this patent 7,877,269 (US ‘269) was granted to Progressive, containing largely similar claims.

Using the M·CAM DOORS™ analytic platform, an intellectual property analysis of Progressive’s ‘088 patent was conducted in order to understand its strength and defensibility in the face of precedent commercial products, prior art, and concurrent innovation. The innovation space surrounding the ‘088 patent and its patent family members was examined to determine which patent(s) may provide alternatives to or alter the value of Progressive’s properties.

Existing evidence raises reasonable concern about the on-sale bar’s relevance to the Progressive case. However, M·CAM’s intellectual property analysis reveals issues more fundamental to the strength of Progressive’s patents. In particular, the broad nature and similarity of ‘088 and ‘269’s claims, and the presence of a significant number of patents with conceptually comparable claims in the innovation space, may affect the vulnerability and defensibility of these patents.