What’s next? 5 technology, media and IP trends for 2025

Trade secrets are quickly becoming the go-to way for businesses, especially SMEs, to protect their most valuable IP. That’s because, unlike patents which eventually expire, trade secrets stay protected as long as the secret is kept. This strategy helps to avoid the steep costs and long wait times of the patenting process—but it does come with challenges. When employees leave their company to join a competitor, we’re increasingly seeing their former employers allege the departed employee of stealing confidential information on their way out, with disputes often ending up in court.

In 2024, we saw a big uptick in trade secret lawsuits, and it’s not slowing down. The grey area around what counts as a "protected secret" only fuels the fire. As we move into 2025, businesses will need to tighten their security around their most valuable information—with insurance set to play a key role.

The future looks promising for the digital asset market. In 2024, political and market shifts helped to propel Bitcoin’s value to a record-breaking high, while a pro-crypto White House is likely to introduce policies that pave the way to further opportunities and innovation.

Expect the market to expand, with traditional finance increasingly involved and digital assets becoming integral to wider financial systems. But the risks aren’t going away, either. The digital assets market is prone to extreme volatility and is marked by high-profile failures, such as the fraud and subsequent collapse of exchange FTX in 2022. As insurers, it’s about how we can help businesses navigate the uncertainties, all while stimulating growth. 

AI is shaking up the world of content creation, making it faster and more affordable to produce high-quality content. While a game-changing technology for companies in film and media, this sentiment is rarely shared by artists, scriptwriters and other creators—in fact, many are raising significant concerns.

First, we’re seeing AI tools replace jobs and stir-up confusion about ownership. Who owns a screenplay written by AI, or a song created by machine learning? Then there are concerns about the data used to train AI tools, potentially infringing on IP rights. As AI continues to transform the content landscape, we’re likely to see more lawsuits and a fast-changing regulatory landscape, as businesses look to protect their interests.

The global space economy is set to exceed $900 billion by 2033, as major players like NASA and SpaceX spur innovation alongside a wave of exciting startups. From refining reusable rockets to developing smaller, more efficient satellites, even 3D printing is transforming how we approach engineering in space. But of course, with innovation and complexity comes risk.

As the race to space accelerates further, insurers have a prime opportunity to monitor developments and broaden coverages to meet the industry’s evolving demands. By innovating ourselves to provide the right support, the insurance industry can play a key role in driving extraterrestrial research, perhaps even helping to move the needle for humanity as a whole.

Be it advancements in carbon capture, renewable energy, electric vehicles or waste management, the greentech industry is playing a vital role in the drive for a low-carbon economy. The past 12 months saw greentech really come to the fore, and we expect this trend to only accelerate as 2025 unfolds.

However, as these innovations move from concept to scale, they face the real challenge of technical failures and regulatory compliance. This is where insurance can make a real difference. By broadening our focus on greentech risks, we can offer essential backing to innovators, investors and early adopters—helping to push greentech solutions forward and address urgent climate challenges.