Articles
Insurance Policy Endorsement Clause Read Narrowly in Rock Band Name Dispute
Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice
December 19, 2008
Sommers, Mark
Article
In this article, Finnegan attorney, Mark Sommers, examines the case of Mansarek v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company, which began when an insured reuinited rock band and promoter were sued for infringement: the band sought defense by its insurance company, but was denied coverage under an exclusionary clause. The rock band brought suit against the insurance company for breach of insurance; a lower court dismissed the claim, but the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the ruling, finding that the insurance exclusionary clause, read narrowly, did not deny coverage to the insured rock band. Sommers considers the implications of Mansarek for limiting insurance defense obligations, and suggest that courts will construe insurance policy endorsement clauses in insurance policies very narrowly.
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