Hartford Casualty Insurance v. Swift Distribution, Inc.

Hartford Casualty Insurance Company (Hartford) issued a commercial general liability policy to Swift Distribution, Inc., doing business as Ultimate Support Systems (Ultimate), that covered “personal and advertising injury.” This term included claims arising from “[ojral, written, or electronic publication of material that slanders or libels a person or organization or disparages a person’s or organization’s goods, products or services.” Ultimate, which sells the “Ulti-Cart,” was sued in federal district court by Gary-Michael Dahl (Dahl), the manufacturer of the “Multi-Cart.” The suit included allegations of patent and trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and damage to business, reputation, and goodwill.

When Ultimate tendered defense of the suit to Hartford, Hartford denied coverage on the ground that the suit did not allege that Ultimate had disparaged Dahl or the Multi-Cart. The Court of Appeal agreed with Hartford that it had no duty to defend and expressly disagreed with the reasoning in Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America v. Charlotte Russe Holding, Inc. (2012) 207 Cal.App.4th 969 [ 144 Cal.Rptr.3d 12 ] (Charlotte Russe). We granted review to…