Insurers’ COVID-19 Notepad: What You Need to Know Now - Week of August 15, 2022
Client Alert | 1 min read | 08.15.22
Courts Dismiss COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims
On August 11, 2022, the Fourth Circuit affirmed a grant of judgment on the pleadings to Illinois Union Insurance Company on a buffet franchise’s COVID-19 business interruption claims. The court applied its decision in Uncork & Create LLC v. Cincinnati Insurance Company, 27 F.4th 926 (4th Cir. 2022), which held that losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were not covered absent material destruction or material harm to the insured premises. The case is Golden Corral Corp. v. Ill. Union Ins. Co.
On August 8, 2022, the Superior Court of California granted Factory Mutual Insurance Company’s motion to strike portions of a complaint filed by nineteen National Hockey League clubs for losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and denied its demurrer. Citing United Talent Agency v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 77 Cal. App. 5th 821 (2022), the Court found that plaintiffs failed to allege covered physical loss or damage due to COVID-19, although it allowed the plaintiffs’ claim for communicable disease coverage to survive Factory Mutual’s demurrer. The case is San Jose Sharks LLC, et al. v. Factory Mut. Ins. Co., et al.
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Client Alert | 8 min read | 06.30.25
AI Companies Prevail in Path-Breaking Decisions on Fair Use
Last week, artificial intelligence companies won two significant copyright infringement lawsuits brought by copyright holders, marking an important milestone in the development of the law around AI. These decisions – Bartz v. Anthropic and Kadrey v. Meta (decided on June 23 and 25, 2025, respectively), along with a February 2025 decision in Thomson Reuters v. ROSS Intelligence – suggest that AI companies have plausible defenses to the intellectual property claims that have dogged them since generative AI technologies became widely available several years ago. Whether AI companies can, in all cases, successfully assert that their use of copyrighted content is “fair” will depend on their circumstances and further development of the law by the courts and Congress.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.30.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.26.25
FDA Targets Gene Editing Clinical Trials in China and other “Hostile Countries”
Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.26.25
