In the Emerging Area of Insurance Coverage for Opioid Litigation, Ohio Court Finds No Coverage for Opioid Distributor Due to Past Claim

An Ohio federal court recently added to the limited, but growing, body of case law on insurance coverage for opioid litigation. In Miami-Luken, Inc. v. Navigators Insurance Co., No 1:16-cv-00876 (S.D. Ohio July 11, 2018), the court found that a specific litigation exclusion precluded coverage for a DEA action against an opioid distributor.

Like many of the opioid coverage decisions thus far, this case stems from a 2012 lawsuit filed by the Attorney General of West Virginia against various opioid distributors, including Miami-Luken, captioned …

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Gotta Keep Em Separated: District Court Rejects Theory of Coverage that Trademark Infringement Suit Constitutes Trade Dress or Slogan Infringement under Coverage B

In H5G, LLC v. Selective Insurance Company, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23937 (S.D. Oh. Feb. 21, 2017), an Ohio federal district court granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment with respect to its obligations to defend or indemnify its insured against an underlying trademark infringement suit.

In the underlying suit, High 5 Sportswear (High Five) alleged H5G infringed its trademarks and committed cybersquatting. H5G’s CGL policy issued by Selective Insurance Company afforded coverage for the infringement of another’s copyright, trade dress, or slogan, but …

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Ohio Brings Certificates of Insurance Closer to Home

Ohio recently passed House Bill 259, a law that aims to ensure that certificates of insurance accurately reflect the policies they represent. In the past, certificates that did not accurately reflect the insurance policy caused coverage disputes. The new measure attempts to cure this defect and gives the Ohio insurance regulator more jurisdiction to ensure that the certificate accurately reflects the policy — with one stated aim to protect agents and policyholders against insurance fraud. In passing this law, Ohio joins 24 other states …

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