Case Briefs
February 01, 2007
Highlights of the latest insurance cases from around the country.
PA Supreme Court Rules on Assignments
February 01, 2007
Policyholders frequently seek to decrease liability to underlying claimants by assigning their insurance policy rights to the claimants. Typically, a policyholder will assign its rights under its liability policy to the underlying claimant in exchange for a covenant not to execute on any judgment against the policyholder. Under the assignment, the underlying claimant receives the same rights that the policyholder had against its insurer. This strategy may be particularly attractive to the policyholder if an insurer has denied coverage or reserved its right to deny coverage ' thus leaving the policyholder faced with a potentially uninsured exposure. While policyholders have successfully used this strategy to protect themselves from uninsured exposures, it is not free from complication. This article briefly discusses some of the significant issues to be considered, a number of which recently were addressed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in <i>Egger v. Gulf Ins. Co.</i>, 903 A.2d 1219 (Pa. 2006).
Property Insurance Policies: Be Vigilant: Courts Do Enforce One-Year Contractual Limitations Provisions
February 01, 2007
Many property insurance policies contain or incorporate one-year statute of limitations provisions. Such provisions typically provide that 'a claim or suit brought pursuant to the policy must be brought within 12 months of the date on which the direct physical loss or damage occurred.' These contractual limitations provisions may adversely impact the ability of a policyholder to obtain a recovery for a loss. Depending on the type of loss suffered, 12 months may be an insufficient period of time to investigate the loss and to resolve any coverage issues that might arise. In the case of a sizeable loss, it is not unusual for the insurer's appraisers and/or experts to take many months to investigate and/or to make a coverage determination. As such, unless a policyholder is vigilant about resolving the claim within 12 months or tolling the limitations period, the policyholder may face an argument that the claim is barred by the statute of limitations.
Reviewing Jury Verdicts in Two Mega-Insurance Cases: The Second Circuit Decisions in Swiss Re and Olin
February 01, 2007
In the fall of 2006, the Second Circuit ruled on appeals from the jury trials in two huge insurance cases: <i>SR International Business Insurance Co., Ltd. v. World Trade Center Properties, LLC</i>, 467 F.3d 107 (2d Cir. 2006) ('<i>Swiss Re</i>'), and <i>Olin Corp. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London</i>, 468 F.3d 120 (2d Cir. 2006). Both cases went to a jury verdict in 2005 against fairly overwhelming odds. Commentators have widely observed that jury trials are a disappearing breed. In 2002, only 1.8% of civil cases in federal courts and only 0.6% of civil cases in state courts went to jury trial. <i>See</i> Marc Galanter, The Vanishing Trial: An Examination of Trials and Related Matters in Federal and State Courts, <i>J. Empirical Legal Stud.</i> 1 (3), 459-570 (2004); Brian J. Ostrom, et al., Examining Trial Trends in State Courts: 1976'2002, <i>J. Empirical Legal Stud.</i> 1 (3), 755-782 (2004). Moreover, both cases define high stakes, mega-insurance litigation: complex fact patterns, major corporate policyholders and insurers, billions of dollars in insurance coverage, and disputes closely watched by the press and public. Given this context, it is fairly extraordinary that the parties in <i>Swiss Re</i> and <i>Olin</i> let a jury of 'peers' determine the outcome of their disputes. The trial proceedings and appellate review in these cases are worthy of study for insurance litigators hoping or planning for a jury trial of their own.
IP News
February 01, 2007
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.
Foreign Use of a Mark May Establish Trademark Priority in the U.S.
February 01, 2007
In the recent decision of <i>First Niagara Ins. Brokers, Inc. v. First Niagara Fin. Group, Inc.</i> (Fed. Cir. 2007) (the 'Federal Circuit's decision'), the Federal Circuit overturned a ruling by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the 'Board') dismissing an opposition by First Niagara Insurance Brokers ('FN-Canada'), a Canadian company, to registration of 'First Niagara' and related marks by First Niagara Financial Group ('FN-US'), a U.S. company. In rendering its holding, the Federal Circuit declared that, in some cases, what would seem to be purely foreign trademark activity may establish superior trademark rights in the United States.
Judicial Support for Reverse Engineering
February 01, 2007
Reverse engineering brings to mind one main question for the intellectual property practitioner: Is it legal? By looking at a few cases dealing with reverse engineering and intellectual property regimes, it is discovered that not only is reverse engineering legal, but it is a means of maintaining competition that is fair and healthy for the marketplace.
Trademark Investigations Revisited
February 01, 2007
The use of investigations to uncover and evaluate potential infringement and unfair competition claims can be an extremely effective weapon for any trademark owner. Usually, a key to successful trademark investigations rests in having the mark owner's investigator pose as an ordinary consumer ' essentially misrepresenting his or her true identity or purpose to the potential infringer. This practice of attempting to gain information through the arguable use of deception or invented scenario is now commonly referred to as 'pretexting' and has led to controversy in the general corporate context. This article concludes that properly conducted and supervised pretext investigations remain in harmony with both the relevant case law and the policy goals of trademark and unfair competition law.
