CASE BRIEFS
October 02, 2003
Highlights of the latest insurance cases from around the country.
Innocent Spouse Can Be Denied Coverage, Says NJ
October 02, 2003
Can an insured's resident spouse be precluded from receiving no-fault coverage if the insured has commited fraud? On January 29, 2003, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided the case of <i>Palisades Safety & Insurance Association v. Leonel Bastien and Paule Bastien</i>, 814 A.2d 619 (2003) and decided for the first time 'whether an insured's resident spouse is precluded from receiving no-fault coverage when the insured lies to the insurer about his marital status and represents that there were no other persons of driving age residing in his household.' <i>Id.</i> at 620. The court affirmed a prior decision by the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court.
What You Need to Know About EPLI
October 02, 2003
Even one relatively simple single-plaintiff employment discrimination lawsuit may result in substantial losses, which can be devastating for small- to mid-sized employers, particularly if punitive damages are awarded. And the legal expenses of defending such a lawsuit, even if successful, may be just as costly as losing the court battle. Moreover, the number of discrimination cases remains on the rise ' sexual harassment charges alone jumped nearly 50% from 1992 to 2001.
How to Investigate Fraudulent Claims
October 02, 2003
Insurance carriers are routinely presented with claims for insurance benefits that contain elements of fraud. As a practical matter, fraudulent claims may be classified in three categories: fraud at the inception of the policy; fraudulent enhancement of an otherwise valid claim; and the staged loss. The elements of these types of claims often overlap, and the successful defense of a fraudulent claim for insurance benefits is based on a thorough understanding of the insurance policy and a complete analysis of the claim. Due to the scope of the subject matter, this topic will be addressed in a monthly series of articles. Each will focus on a different part of the investigation process. This first article begins with an overview of the investigative process.
VeriSign Suspends Site Finder Service
October 01, 2003
VeriSign Inc., the leading provider of infrastructure services for the Internet and charged with managing the .com and .net Internet name registries, recently suspended its Site Finder service because the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees the Internet's domain-naming system, ordered it to shut down the service.
International Domain Name Disputes Persist
October 01, 2003
For most businesses, a domain name is now as critical and integral a part of their corporate identity as a trademark. Because these readily accessible addresses for Web sites are easy to remember and use, domain names have become business identifiers and, in some cases, even trademarks themselves, such as Amazon.com. <BR>Although it's been nearly 10 years since domain names became commonplace, the intersection between trademark rights and domain name registration and use is still teeming with potential problems. These difficulties are compounded when considered internationally. While trademark law jurisprudence can extend back several hundred years, the rules for working with domain names are still being written. Companies with their eye on international markets should pay especially close attention to the variety of rules ' or lack thereof ' in these jurisdictions.
