CIGA

In this case we consider whether California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) is barred from contesting whether a claim is “within the coverage of an insurance policy of [an] insolvent insurer,” as used in Insurance Code section 1063.1, subdivision (c)(1), where a third party claimant has obtained a judgment declaring that the insurer (now insolvent) had no basis to deny coverage for the claim. Interpreting the statute so as to leave no part of it useless or deprived of meaning, we hold that the statute permits CIGA to contest whether the claim is within policy coverage, and CIGA is not bound by the prior judgment against the insolvent insurer. We then interpret the policy in question, which covers “injury arising out of. . . piracy, unfair competition, or infringment [sic] of copyright, title or slogan,” but which does not apply to “injury arising out of . . . infringement of trademark, service mark or trade name, other than titles or slogans . . . .” We conclude that this policy language does not cover the claims at issue in this case, which are for trademark infringement and false designation of origin brought under the Lanham Act ( 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114 (l)(a),…