The Invasion of the Right of Private Occupancy As a Covered Offense

“Personal and advertising injury coverage” is “offense”-based, not “occurrence”-based, coverage. This means that coverage for “personal injury” liability hinges on whether the plaintiff asserts a claim for the commission of certain offenses unlike coverage for bodily injury or property damage, which depends generally on the type of injury sustained, and not the cause of action. The ordinary meaning of “offense” is “a breach of a moral or social code” or “an infraction of law.” Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 806 (10th ed. 1997). Because policy forms insure against liability arising out of certain enumerated “offenses,” the word in this context conveys the same meaning as “tort.” Compare id. at 1245 (“a wrongful act other than a breach of contract for which relief may be obtained”), with Black's Law Dictionary 1496 (7th ed. 1999) (“A civil wrong for which a remedy may be obtained”), and 1 Dan B. Dobbs, The Law of Torts ' 1, at 1 (2001)(“a legal wrong ' that causes harm for which courts will impose civil liability”). As explained by several courts, “[p]ersonal injury liability is a theory-based coverage. It defines its coverage in terms of offenses, or theories of liability, not in terms of the injury sustained by the plaintiff.” Great Northern Nekoosa Corp. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 921 F. Supp. 401, 416 (N.D. Miss. 1996); see also Martin Marietta Corp. v. Insurance Co. of N. Am., 40 Cal. App. 4th 1113, 1124-25 (1995); Kitsap County v. Allstate Ins. Co., 136 Wn.2d 567, 579-581 (Wash. 1998); 7A John Alan Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice ' 4501.14 (Walter F. Berdal ed., 1979).