Window server indemnification - what you need to know

The software products you license or buy (such as a Window server) embody a wide variety of intellectual property rights. For example, a single software product will be sold under a trademarked name; will have its code, documentation and program structures covered by copyrights; and will contain trade secrets in the source code.

A very confusing and misunderstood issue is liability for patent infringement.

Litigating patent infringement suits can be tremendously expensive, implicating costs that easily exceed what you paid for the Window server.

Substantial business disruption is also caused by litigation. Valuable time must be spent by employees and officers searching for documents, attending depositions, and preparing for and testifying at trial, instead of focusing on their jobs.

However, the ultimate disruption may be when a court enters an injunction prohibiting your company from continuing to use a software program that is critical to your business.
One way that IT consumers can protect themselves is to insist that software vendors agree to provide indemnity, particularly against patent infringement associated with use of the products these companies sell.

What is indemnity?

Indemnity means that the provider of a product agrees to bear the risks and losses of another arising from use of the product. In the case of patent indemnity, this often means that the provider agrees to: defend a lawsuit; pay any damages; and reimburse expenses including attorney fees, where the case is premised on the user’s use of the product sold by the software vendor. Indemnity can be considered one form of risk management, like a product warranty or an insurance policy.

An indemnification provision for your Window server is very important to protect end users from patent infringement claims and liability. There are many different levels to the scope of indemnity, depending on how an indemnity provision has been drafted. Before taking up an indemnity provision offered by a vendor, you should carefully examine these several key features:

• What triggers and terminates the indemnity obligations?
• What intellectual property is covered?
• What is the extent of financial liability provided by the vendor?
• How will the vendor meet its financial obligations?
• Who controls any litigation?

To find out more about dedicated Windows hosting click here or read about interoperability of a Window server.