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 display could constitute an “advertisement” for purposes of insurance coverage, and Hershey was owed a defense for claims alleging patent and trademark infringement of f’real Foods LLC’s (“f’real”) similar machine and display. F’real developed a display kiosk with a blender atop a merchandizing freezer with a see-through glass door. Its milkshake products are displayed in cylindrical sealed cups arrayed in rows and columns within the freezer. The kiosk prominently features f’real’s name with advertising slogans such as “Blend a F’REAL…for REAL” or “REAL Milkshakes, REAL good.”…
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Store Display Can Be An “Advertisement” Under Coverage B
Posted in Bad Faith
From Birdseed to Crop Dusting, Liability-Triggering Event Determines Number of Occurrences
Texas applies the “cause” test to determine the number of accidents or occurrences, but its emphasis on the “liability-triggering event” requires an analysis of intervening causes. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals doubled-down on its focus on the liability-triggering event, reversing the trial court and finding a truck driver’s negligent operation of his vehicle that caused multiple collisions (four autos and a toll plaza booth) was one accident for purposes of liability insurance in Evanston Ins. Co. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., —F.3d.—, No. 17-20812, 2018 WL 6037507. The court acknowledged that the analysis espoused in Pincoffs[1] and Goose Creek[2] (i.e., count the number of acts by the insured that give rise to liability) is incomplete because it does not address…
Posted in Bad Faith
Texas Court: No Prejudice Required to Deny for Late Reporting Under a Claims-Made Policy
This summer in Nicholas Petroleum, Inc. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., 2015 WL 4456185, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 7489 (Tex.App., Jul. 21, 2015), a Dallas panel of Texas’ intermediate level appellate court rejected policyholder arguments that the insurer was required to show prejudice before denying coverage under a claims-made policy based on the insured’s untimely reporting of the claim. Nicholas Petroleum owned and operated a gas station in Dallas, Texas. Mid-Continent had issued Nicholas a Pollution Liability and Environmental Damage Policy that contained a condition precedent to coverage stating: “In the event of a Claim under Coverage A, the Insured shall give us written notice as soon as possible but in any event no later than thirty (30) days after receipt…
