Selective Insurance Co. of America v. Smart Candle, LLC

781 F.3d 983, 114 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1263, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 4894, 2015 WL 1345231
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMarch 26, 2015
Docket14-1356
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 781 F.3d 983 (Selective Insurance Co. of America v. Smart Candle, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Selective Insurance Co. of America v. Smart Candle, LLC, 781 F.3d 983, 114 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1263, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 4894, 2015 WL 1345231 (8th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

KELLY, Circuit Judge.

Smart Candle, LLC, sells light-emitting diode (LED) flameless candles and commercial lighting systems internationally. On October 31, 2011, Excell Consumer Products sued Smart Candle under the Lanham Act alleging that, among other things, Smart Candle’s use of the trade name and trademark “Smart Candle” infringed rights that Excell had over use of that name and trademark. Excell sought a permanent injunction against Smart Candle’s use of the name, trademark, and domain name “smartcandle.com.”

Selective Insurance Company insured Smart Candle between October 18, 2010, and October 18, 2012, and during that period the Excell suit had commenced. Smart Candle requested that Selective defend Smart Candle in that suit, but Selective disclaimed coverage under the policy. Selective pointed to relevant portions of the policy that cover “personal and advertising injury,” which the policy defines as injury resulting from, among other things, “Infringing upon another’s copyright, trade dress or slogan in your ‘advertisement.’” Excluded from that coverage of “personal and advertising injury,” however, is any injury “arising out of the infringement of copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights.” The" exclusion clarifies that it “does not apply to infringement in your ‘advertisement’ of copyright, trade dress or slogan.” Because the policy required Selective to defend only suits claiming infringement of “copyright, trade dress[,] or slogan,” Selective insisted, Selective had no duty to defend Smart Candle against Excell’s suit for infringement of the “Smart Candle” trademark.

Smart Candle wrote Selective ten months later requesting reconsideration. Selective again disclaimed coverage, noting Excell’s claims for infringement of its “mark” or “trademark.” Because Excell did not claim infringement of a “slogan” or “copyright,” Selective explained, it had no duty to defend or indemnify Smart Candle. Excell won its suit after a bench trial. See Excell Consumer Prods. Ltd. v. Smart Candle LLC, No. 11 C 7220, 2013 WL 4828581 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 10, 2013).

' In April 2013, Selective filed an action in federal court in Minnesota for a declaration that Selective owed no duty to defend or indemnify Smart Candle in the Excell lawsuit. Smart Candle counterclaimed for breach of contract. As part of those counterclaims, Smart Candle asserted that Selective had not conducted “any reasonable investigation of Excell’s Claims” in that lawsuit, including “a review of Smart Candle’s website ... or any of Smart Candle’s advertising before denying coverage.” Selective denied that allegation and moved *985 for summary judgment. Smart Candle in turn moved for partial summary judgment.

The district court 1 granted summary judgment in favor of Selective. The court noted that the insurance policy did not define “slogan,” so the “popular and ordinary meaning” applied. To determine whether “Smart Candle” qualified as a slogan and thus, as Smart Candle argued, whether Excell’s suit could qualify as one for infringement of that slogan, the court reviewed the allegations in Ex-cell’s suit. Excell, the court pointed out, “explicitly based its complaint on the improper use of ‘Smart Candle’ as a mark, trademark, trade name, and name,” and therefore no reasonable jury would conclude that Excell was suing for slogan infringement. The court also concluded that Selective had no duty to investigate “beyond the four corners of the complaint” to determine whether other facts could be interpreted to trigger Selective’s duty to defend or indemnify. Last, the court explained that interpreting “trademark” also to mean “slogan” would render meaningless the policy’s differentiation of the 'two terms, contrary to the rules of contract interpretation in Minnesota. Thus, the court concluded, Smart Candle failed to establish a prima facie case for coverage, and Selective was entitled to declaratory judgment. Smart Candle appeals that ruling.

We have jurisdiction over this appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo the grant of summary judgment, Grinnell Mut. Reinsurance Co. v. Schwieger, 685 F.3d 697, 700 (8th Cir.2012); the grant of a motion for declaratory judgment, Evanston Ins. Co. v. Johns, 530 F.3d 710, 713 (8th Cir.2008); and the district court’s interpretation of state in-suranee law, Grinnell Mut., 685 F.3d at 700.

Under Minnesota law, insurance policies are interpreted in accordance with the intent of the parties. Thommes v. Milwaukee Ins. Co., 641 N.W.2d 877, 879 (Minn.2002). Ambiguities are resolved in favor of the insured, but unambiguous language is given its “plain and ordinary meaning.” Id. at 880. An insurer has a duty to defend when any part of a claim is arguably within the scope of coverage. Brown v. State Auto. & Cas. Underwriters, 293 N.W.2d 822, 825-26 (Minn.1980). Under Minnesota law, the insurer assumes two duties: to defend and to indemnify. The duty to defend is broader than the duty to indemnify; therefore, if the court concludes there is no duty to defend, then there also is no duty to indemnify. Id.; see Meadowbrook, Inc. v. Tower Ins. Co., 559 N.W.2d 411, 415 (Minn.1997).

Smart Candle’s insurance policy with Selective excludes coverage for suits based on trademark but grants coverage for suits based on infringement of a slogan. “Slogan” is not defined in the insurance policy; but because that term is unambiguous, the “plain and ordinary meaning” applies. We previously have turned to a dictionary entry for “slogan” when the insurance policy left that term undefined, finding two definitions: “(1) ‘a word or phrase used to express a characteristic position or stand or a goal to be achieved’ and (2) ‘a brief attention-getting phrase used in advertising or promotion.’ ” Interstate Bakeries Corp. v. OneBeacon Ins. Co., 686 F.3d 539, 546 (8th Cir.2012) (quoting Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 1174 (11th ed.2005)). Thus, the question is whether any of Excell’s claims arguably were based on Smart Candle’s use of “Smart *986 Candle” as “a brief attention-getting phrase” or to “express a characteristic position or stand or a goal.”

Smart Candle argues that it is entitled to indemnification for its costs to defend against Excell’s claims because, Smart Candle insists, Excell’s lawsuit was arguably based on Smart Candle’s use of the phrase “Smart Candle” as a slogan or as both a trademark and a slogan.

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781 F.3d 983, 114 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1263, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 4894, 2015 WL 1345231, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/selective-insurance-co-of-america-v-smart-candle-llc-ca8-2015.