By: Erin E. Kaprelian Generic terms—those words that actually name a product or service—are ineligible for trademark protection under current United States trademark law. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) decided that adding “.com” to an otherwise generic term was not sufficient to allow trademark registration of the...
Business Interruption Insurance for COVID-19
By: Brian J. Pfeil and Christopher M. Meuler The restrictions put in place to halt the spread of COVID-19 – such as limiting crowd size, closing restaurants and taverns, and shuttering of professional sports leagues - are critically stressing many of your businesses. One possible form of relief to the financial stress is insurance coverage,...

Wisconsin Supreme Court: “Retroactive Defense” Can Satisfy An Insurer’s Duty to Defend
By: Christopher M. Meuler and Ted A. Warpinski The Wisconsin Supreme Court has issued numerous decisions over the past few years regarding an insurer’s duty to defend its insured under liability insurance. On February 13, 2020, the Court added Choinsky v. Germantown School District, Case No. 2018AP116, 2020 WI 13, where it clarified one of the...

New Wisconsin Supreme Court Decision Scales Back the Consequences of One Insurer’s Breach of the Duty to Defend Where Multiple Carriers Provide Overlapping Coverage
By: Todd Farris, Ted A. Warpinski and Christopher M. Meuler Steadfast Insurance Company v. Greenwich Insurance Company, 2019 WI 9, decided by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on January 25, 2019, adds fire to the ongoing debate among insurance coverage counsel about the consequences of an insurer’s breach of the duty to defend. Does the decision...

Liquidated Damages for Delay: Contract Considerations for Owners and Contractors
By: Elizabeth K. Miles Construction contracts often include a clause that identifies a stipulated or “liquidated” damage amount for unexcused delay. These clauses assess a fixed sum for each day of delay, thereby relieving the owner from proving its actual damages caused by delay. Although generally thought to protect the owner, liquidated...

Ted Warpinski Quoted in Super Lawyers Article: Business Owners: Environmental Lawsuits May Sink You
Environmental Attorney, Ted Warpinski, shared his comments for an article discussing the environmental protections business owners should have when dealing with environmental disasters entitled, Business Owners: Environmental Lawsuits May Sink You. An environmental lawyer may save your Wisconsin business. The author of the article, Benjy Schirm,...

New Wisconsin Court of Appeals Decision Highlights the Importance of Policy Language in Determining When Umbrella and Excess Insurers Have a Duty to Defend a Claim Against an Insured
By Todd Farris & Ted A. Warpinski Comprehensive general liability policies (CGL) typically provide protection against both claims for monetary damages (the “duty to indemnify”) and the cost of retaining legal counsel to provide a defense to claims (the “duty to defend”). The insurer has a duty to defend a claim that is arguably covered by the...
Recent Federal Appeals Court Decision on Insurance Coverage Impacts Manufacturers
By Susan G. Schellinger Federal Appeals Court Clarifies that Wisconsin Supreme Court Did Not Intend to Sharply Curtail Coverage for Wisconsin Manufacturers. On August 8, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (the federal court that hears appeals from Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana federal courts) issued a decision that...
Wisconsin appellate court denies insurance coverage to a contractor because work was performed on a building that had synthetic stucco.
By Susan G. Schellinger A slew of lawsuits has plagued the construction industry regarding the use of exterior insulation and finish systems, also known as EIFS or synthetic stucco. Insurance companies were historically required to pay money towards those claims under standard commercial general liability policies. As they did in response to...
Key Insurance Coverage Decisions Affecting Businesses in 2017
By Susan G. Schellinger Although insurance coverage is to be determined by the language of the policy at issue, court decisions addressing standard policy language can, and do, affect whether or not an insurance company will cover a claim. Throughout 2016, Wisconsin courts issued a number of decisions that may have wide-ranging impact on the...