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BOSTON — A hospital insured and its commercial property insurer tell a Massachusetts federal court in a Jan. 9 joint motion that they have reached a settlement in principle of the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
NEW YORK — A New York appeals court concluded that Bowlero Corp. has stated a cause of action against one of its insurers because its complaint sufficiently asserts that a policy’s special time element coverage extension was triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the additional pathogenic materials policy exclusion does not apply, unanimously modifying the lower court’s ruling, reinstating the insured’s complaint against the one insurer and affirming the remainder of the lower court’s decision.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err when finding that most of the claims in a patent describing a product for hanging construction equipment were unpatentable while some were not, rejecting an equipment manufacturer’s contention that all claims should have been found to be unpatentable.
DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s ruling that a disability insurer’s termination of disability benefits was reasonable because the insurer identified substantial evidence to support its finding that the claimant was not disabled from performing the duties of any occupation.
WASHINGTON, D.C. —The U.S. Supreme Court in a Jan. 8 order list granted the government’s request to be allowed to participate as amicus curiae in divided Jan. 22 argument concerning what is necessary to state an Employee Retirement Income Security Act claim for a prohibited transaction between a retirement plan and a party in interest.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission said Jan. 7 that three crude oil producers will pay a $5.6 million civil penalty to settle allegations that they committed a “gun jumping violation” when they disregarded their obligations under the federal law governing mergers and transferred “significant operational control” over one of the companies’ business operations to the other parties without observing the proper waiting period.
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 7 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a homeowners insurer in a breach of contract lawsuit arising from property damage caused by a winter freeze, finding that the property did not comport with the insurance policy's coverage requirements because it is undisputed that the plaintiff did not reside on the property at the policy’s inception.
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied Publix Super Markets Inc.’s petition for a writ of mandamus to order a series of questions certified to the Georgia Supreme Court for it to determine how the state’s public nuisance laws apply in a nationwide opioid multidistrict litigation, finding “that the extraordinary remedy of mandamus” is not warranted.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 7 upheld the U.S. Court of Federal Claims’ entry of $154,400 in damages against the United States to be paid to a software company that accused the U.S. Navy of infringing on its software; the panel rejected the company’s arguments that damages should have been calculated based on individual instances of infringement and not on a hypothetical licensing contract.
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware Chancery Court vice chancellor on Jan. 7 entered liquidation and injunction orders regarding two special purpose captive insurance companies — American Casualty Reinsurance of Delaware LLC (ACRE) and American Equine Insurance Company LLC (AEIC) — that the Delaware Department of Insurance seized in June 2024 under confidential orders.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A suit filed months before a recent wave of similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to health plans’ tobacco surcharges would be resolved for $4.95 million under a class settlement to which the plaintiff has asked a Missouri federal court to grant preliminary approval.