Courts took up some interesting insurance questions this past month. Here’s some we address in our June Insurance Update. When a government sponsored cyberattack infects computers worldwide, does the war exclusion apply? ...more
Why is protecting biometric information so important? Biometrics rely on our physical features to securely gain access to sensitive data—think facial and iris/retina recognition, or fingerprint and even voice scanning. The...more
The California Supreme Court issued the following decision last week: Yahoo, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA, No. S253593. Yahoo!’s insurer, National Union, refused to indemnify Yahoo! in...more
ADVERTISING INJURIES: DEFAMATION AND RIGHT OF PUBLICITY - Advertising injuries occur when a business injures another party during the course of advertising its products or services. The Insurance Services Office (ISO)...more
On January 5, 2022, the Third Circuit confirmed that the “potentially covered” standard for the duty to defend is far broader than the “actually covered” standard for the duty to indemnify, also confirming that the duty to...more
Second Circuit Holds That General Contractor’s “True Excess” Policy Covers Owner Before Owner’s Primary Policy Because Of General Contractor’s Contractual Indemnity Obligation to Owner- The Long Island Railroad on behalf...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, applying Texas law, held that an insurer owed a duty to defend its insured in an underlying litigation stemming from a payment card breach because it found that the...more
The deluge of lawsuits brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), 740 ILCS 14 et seq. over the past several years has presented a challenge to companies operating in Illinois. Not surprisingly,...more
The insured was sued in an underlying action seeking damages and injunctive relief for alleged trademark infringement. The insured tendered the action to its CGL insurer which disclaimed. The insured settled the underlying...more
Does coverage for liability arising out of “advertising injury” include copyright infringement suits where the insured was not alleged to have engaged in advertisement? In Superior Integrated Solutions, Inc. v. Mercer...more
In The Travelers Indemnity Company v. Lean & Local LLC, Travelers sought a declaration that it did not owe its insureds indemnity or a defense. Judge Green granted Travelers summary judgment. The claims asserted against the...more
Second Circuit Finds Coverage Where Insurer Unreasonably Delayed In Seeking Rescission and Its Exclusions Did Not Apply WW Trading was sued and sought coverage from United States Liability Insurance Company (USLI) which...more
An Illinois state appellate court recently ruled that a customer's biometric privacy class action claims against an insured tanning salon potentially fell within two insurer's personal injury coverage. See, West Bend Mutual...more
Ariana Grande, identified in a recent complaint filed in federal court as an “internationally renowned singer, songwriter and actress,” is challenging struggling retailer Forever 21’s use of images that allegedly mimic Ms....more
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a dental product manufacturer’s suit against its insurer, holding that the IP exclusion in the policy expressly excluded the trademark claims over which...more
In Hershey Creamery Company v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Liberty Insurance Corporation, No. 1:18-CV-694, 2019 WL 1900397 (M.D. Penn. May 6, 2019) the court found that a self-serve milkshake machine and related...more
In a case of nationwide first impression, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of K&L Gates LLP’s client, Vibram Corporation (“Vibram”), by holding that allegations regarding Vibram’s use of a deceased...more
Several months ago we blogged about the duty to defend advertising injury claims under commercial general liability (CGL) policies, noting that many courts continue to struggle with the practical application of basic duty to...more
Recently the Eleventh Circuit spent a lot of ink discussing how the marketing and sale of sashimi-grade tuna is affected when myoglobin reacts with oxygen to produce oxymyoglobin, and with carbon monoxide to form...more
On November 17, 2017, a U.S. district court in Florida narrowly construed personal and advertising injury coverage for data-breach claims under a commercial general liability policy. In Innovak International, Inc., v. The...more
August 2017 In Short The Situation: Reversing a pair of federal district court rulings, the Fifth and Ninth Circuits have held that insurers must defend commercial general liability policyholders in advertising injuries...more
On April 11, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rendered one of the first appellate-level decisions dealing with insurance coverage for a cyber event. The Fourth Circuit confirmed that a commercial...more
Corporate policy holders received good news on April 11 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its opinion in the case captioned: The Travelers Indemnity Company of America v. Portal Healthcare...more
“Advertising injury” can be tricky. In theory, the term applies to the type of harm that can be inflicted through advertising media—defamation, disparagement, violation of privacy rights or misappropriation of intellectual...more
Despite Prior Suits, Policyholder Entitled to Coverage for DOJ Investigation - Why it matters: A policyholder was entitled to coverage for a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation despite already facing possibly...more