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Types of liability - Breach of intellectual property and breach of fiduciary duty

Breach of intellectual property

There is always a possibility that your business can get accused of breaching intellectual property rights. These breaches can include copyright, trademark, patent, plagiarism, music rights and broadcasting rights.

One example of a situation where an intellectual property breach was identified was Microsoft’s high-profile legal battle with Manchester-based reseller ITAC earlier this year. Microsoft launched legal proceedings against ITAC for its involvement in parallel importing, and successfully claimed £2.5 million in damages from ITAC for infringing on Microsoft’s intellectual property rights. This could be particularly important cover for professionals in the marketing and publishing sector who are producing content on a frequent basis.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty

The fiduciary duty is a legal relationship of confidence and trust between yourself and your clients and other parties if necessary, most commonly a fiduciary, or trustee and a principal or beneficiary. It means that your clients could sue you if they don’t perceive you to be acting in their best interest. This is valuable cover in the eventuality that a relationship between you and your client breaks down.