Nationwide Mutual Wins Trademark Infringement Insurance Row

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. won a dispute over paying the legal bill for a car rental company facing trademark infringement claims after the Ninth Circuit said the underlying lawsuit never triggered the insurer’s duty to defend.

The insurance policy sold to AutoDistributors Inc. bars payment for a “personal and advertising injury” arising from the infringement of a trademark or other intellectual property rights, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in an unpublished opinion Friday, upholding a lower court’s decision.

In 2014, AutoDistributors signed a contract with a unit of Sixt SE, a German car rental company, ...