Nebraska Supreme Court Finds Patent Infringement Coverage

Land and Sky, Inc. adv. Union Ins. Co., 247 Neb. 696 (1995) (The Nebraska Supreme Court, the first state supreme court to address coverage for patent infringement issues, found that the insured was entitled to a defense for claims of inducing patent infringement of a waterbed patent. The court, applying Nebraska law, found that no Nebraska public policy intruded to avoid coverage for claims of inducing patent infringement. It also found that piracy could encompass patent infringement and that a causal nexus could arise between claims of inducement and the insured's advertising activities. There was separate evidence that various farmers used the bladder (i.e., bag) to carry water in the back of pickup trucks. Based on the advertisements, the preferred use, which led to infringement (i.e., use of the bag in an assembled waterbed), was the cause of injury to the patent owner.).