Surplus Lines Insurance
<i>Part 1 of a 2-part series.</i> Surplus lines business is booming. Last year, California witnessed an astounding 104.5% increase in surplus lines premium totals from 2001, according to the Surplus Lines Association of California. Other states also saw the number of surplus lines policies issued in their state soar. Yet many corporate representatives and coverage attorneys are unfamiliar with this rapidly growing niche within the insurance industry. Whether you are placing insurance for your employer or serving as counsel for an insurance-related client, it is imperative that you possess a good understanding of the role surplus lines insurers play in the insurance industry and how the states regulate the surplus lines market.
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Stipulated Settlements
An officer of a corporation is named as a defendant in a shareholder derivative suit. After reading the complaint, which includes allegations that the officer committed a breach of certain fiduciary duties owed to the corporation, the officer promptly notifies his directors and officers' liability insurer of the lawsuit. Because the applicable policy contains exclusions that may potentially exclude some, if not all, of the claims, the insurer agrees to defend the officer subject to a full and complete reservation of rights.
9th Circuit Defines Libel on the Web
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit waded into cyberspace late last month to set liability for Web site operators who put libelous information on the Internet in <i>Batzel v. Smith</i>.
Are You Breaking The Law?
The Internet has become mainstream by every commercial standard. Numerous legal difficulties await the unprepared human resource professionals. This is the second in a two part series that attempts to identify the top 10 things human resource professional need to know about Internet Law.
Cybersticks and Cyberstones: Cybergriping after Bear Sterns and Taubman Company
Cybergriping occurs when one party (a 'cybergriper') i) establishes a Web site (the 'complaint site' or 'attack site') dedicated to the publication of complaints, claims, criticism, or parody of or against another party (the 'target company'), and ii) registers the Web site under a domain name comprised of the target's trademark and a pejorative suffix, such as 'sucks.com,' 'crooks.com' or 'ripoff.com.' Not surprisingly, target companies have attempted to combat this relatively new form of asymmetrical cyberwarfare by bringing suit against cybergripers under various legal theories, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution and cybersquatting.
IP NEWS
Highlights of the latest intellectual property cases from around the country.
Package Patent Licensing After <i>Microsoft</i>
The law governing package licensing of patents is currently undergoing a significant change. Historically, package licenses were subject to a 'per se' liability under the controlling legal doctrines. Using this per se test, a package license could be rendered unenforceable absent any inquiry into the actual market effects of the license. The recent case of <i>United States v. Microsoft,</i> 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001), marks, however, the emergence of an antitrust doctrine called the 'rule of reason' that is likely to become the dominant legal doctrine for testing package licensing of patents. This is a significant change because the rule of reason is a market-based approach that balances the anticompetitive and pro-competitive benefits of the licensing practice. Thus, a package license may be held to be enforceable even if it would have failed the traditional per se test of the patent misuse doctrine or antitrust laws.
