An insurer has won a legal battle in connection with efforts to protect rights to a computerized method for administering a class of variable annuity features.
A jury at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa has returned a verdict in favor of Lincoln National Life Insurance Company in a patent infringement lawsuit.
Lincoln National, Fort Wayne, Ind., a unit of Lincoln National Corp., Radnor, Pa., brought the suit in 2006 against three units of AEGON N.V., The Hague, Netherlands: Transamerica Life Insurance Company, Transamerica Financial Life Insurance Company, and Western Reserve Life Assurance Company of Ohio.
The patent at the heart of the case is U.S. Patent 7,089,201, "Method and apparatus for providing retirement income benefits."
The patent, sometimes called the "201 Patent," covers a method for administering VA products that combine guaranteed minimum payment features with systematic withdrawal programs.
