Nationwide’s affiliate AMCO reached a settlement with Ledo’s Inc. on an appeal pertaining to insurance coverage for a trademark infringement claim brought by a pizzeria with a similar name. Faegre Drinker represented Nationwide’s affiliate AMCO in what initially began when Ledo Pizza sent Ledo’s Inc. a cease-and-desist letter, saying Ledo’s Inc. had been using the Ledo Pizza trademark, and then sued the pizzeria in December of 2020. Ledo’s Inc. then asked their insurer, AMCO, to fund or provide legal defense under its commercial insurance policy. AMCO denied coverage under a policy exclusion for copyright infringement and sued in 2021 seeking a declaratory judgement that it did not owe Ledo’s Inc. a defense.
Ledo’s Inc. argued that the suit they were facing was a trade dress claim rather than trademark infringement, which would fall outside the exclusion in their policy. The judge disagreed, granting AMCO summary judgement, finding that the underlying lawsuit doesn’t make any trade dress claims and instead focuses on its trademark and not the image or design of its products.
Ledo’s Inc. appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit but a settlement was reached, ending the dispute for Nationwide’s affiliate AMCO.
