Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), commonly known as BCBS or The Blues, is a U.S.-based federation headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1982 through the merger of the Blue Cross Association (established 1960, with origins in 1929) and the Blue Shield Association (established 1948, with origins in 1939), it operates as a tax-exempt, non-profit 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The Association itself has around 1,000 to 1,500 employees and reported approximately $863 million in total revenues for 2024.

BCBSA is primarily responsible for owning and managing the Blue Cross and Blue Shield trademarks and names globally, licensing them to its 33 to 36 independent and locally operated member companies across the United States and in over 170 other countries. These independent member companies collectively provide health insurance plans, including PPOs and HMOs, to more than 115 million people in the U.S. The Association also administers the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program (FEP), which serves over 5 million federal employees and retirees.

In terms of patent litigation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association appears to be an operating company that defends against patent infringement claims. The company has been named as a defendant in both of its tracked cases and has not initiated any patent suits as a plaintiff. Both tracked cases, Sampo IP, LLC v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and Sampo IP, LLC v. Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC et al., were filed on March 21, 2013, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, a venue historically favored by patent assertion entities (NPEs).

The cases indicate that Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association was a co-defendant with other entities, such as Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC, in suits brought by Sampo IP, LLC. This suggests the asserted patents may relate to broader technology utilized across various industries, or specific IT/systems infrastructure relevant to a health insurer's operations.