Legal Issues
Dow Chemical gets $2.2B Kuwait dispute payment
May 7, 2013 4:56 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsDow Chemical Co. said Tuesday it received a $2.2 billion payment from Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait, settling a dispute over a scrapped joint venture. A year ago, an international arbitration court awarded Dow $2.2 billion in damages stemming from Kuwait's move to withdraw from the joint venture.
Report: Blackstone drops out of race to buy Dell
April 18, 2013 11:18 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThere appears to be one less bidder pursuing an acquisition of slumping personal computer maker Dell. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Blackstone Group has retreated from its plans to submit an offer to buy most of Dell Inc.'s outstanding stock for $14.25 per share.
FDA approves first-of-its-kind diabetes drug from J&J
March 29, 2013 3:38 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a first-of-its-kind diabetes drug from Johnson & Johnson that uses a new method to lower blood sugar—flushing it out in patients' urine. The agency cleared J&J's Invokana tablets for adults with Type 2 diabetes, which affects an estimated 26 million Americans. The once-a-day medication works by blocking the kidneys from reabsorbing sugar, which occurs at higher levels in patients with diabetes than in healthy patients.
3M and Avery Dennison resolve patent lawsuits
March 29, 2013 9:01 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsOffice products makers 3M Co. and Avery Dennison Corp. said Friday that they have resolved patent infringement lawsuits filed against each other related to certain reflective sheeting products used on traffic signs, pavement markings and other traffic control products.
DuPont drops Kevlar lawsuit against Easton-Bell
March 28, 2013 1:45 pm | by RANDALL CHASE - AP Business Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsDuPont Co. has dropped a federal lawsuit accusing sports equipment maker Easton-Bell Sports of misusing the Kevlar trademark in packaging for bicycle tires and locks. But the fight may not be over. DuPont's filing Thursday dismissing the lawsuit comes two days after a federal judge in California refused to dismiss or transfer to Delaware a lawsuit filed by Easton-Bell.
EPA settles with Goodrich over Calif. plant water
March 26, 2013 10:23 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it has reached a settlement worth at least $21.5 million with aerospace supplier Goodrich Corp. that will require the company to clean up a Southern California industrial site where chemicals contaminated the water supply.
Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer in licensing deals
March 26, 2013 9:38 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsAgricultural products giant Monsanto and DuPont on Tuesday said they reached a deal to dismiss pending patent lawsuits against one another and entered a series of multi-million dollar licensing agreements. The lawsuits included antitrust and first-generation Roundup Ready soybean patent lawsuits pending in U.S. federal court in St. Louis. The licensing deals include a multi-year, royalty-bearing license for Monsanto Co.'s next-generation soybean technologies in the U.S. and Canada.
Dell board considers 2 new buyout offers
March 25, 2013 7:36 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsDell plans to negotiate with Blackstone Group and investor Carl Icahn over new acquisition bids for the computer maker that rival an offer of more than $24 billion from investors led by founder Michael Dell. Dell Inc. says a special committee of board members has determined the bids from buyout specialist Blackstone and Icahn could be superior to a proposal from Dell and Silver Lake Partners to buy the Texas company for $13.65 per share.
Ohio-based group buys BAE Systems division
February 25, 2013 7:03 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA Cincinnati-based security and defense products company says it has completed the purchase of the commercial armored vehicle division of BAE Systems for about $10 million. The CEO of the O'Gara Group Inc. and BAE Systems PLC said Monday that the O'Gara group completed the purchase of the West Chester-based BAE division.
Japan probe finds miswiring of Boeing 787 battery
February 20, 2013 6:49 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA probe into the overheating of a lithium ion battery in an All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 found it was improperly wired, Japan's Transport Ministry said Wednesday. The Transport Safety Board said in a report that the battery of the aircraft's auxiliary power unit was incorrectly connected to the main battery that overheated, although a protective valve would have prevented power from the APU from doing damage.
Judge approves Transocean's $1B spill settlement
February 19, 2013 12:05 pm | by MICHAEL KUNZELMAN - Associated Press | News | CommentsA U.S. judge on Tuesday approved Swiss-based Transocean Ltd.'s agreement with the Justice Department to pay $1 billion in civil penalties for its role in the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico—the nation's worst offshore oil spill. Last week, a different judge approved Transocean's criminal settlement with the federal government. The company pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and will pay $400 million in criminal penalties.
U.S. company sued over oil discharged in Gulf
February 11, 2013 5:54 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Justice Department is suing a Houston-based company it accuses of illegally discharging oil from a platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit filed Monday in New Orleans against ATP Oil & Gas Corp. says the company's alleged federal Clean Water Act violations were discovered during an Interior Department inspection last year.
Shire agrees to settle ADHD drug inquiry
February 1, 2013 2:57 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsShire PLC said Friday it agreed to pay about $57.5 million to resolve a federal investigation into the marketing of its drugs for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Irish company makes several ADHD drugs, including the former blockbuster Adderall XR, which was its top-selling product before generic competition began to erode its price and sales.
Judge rejects Apple's patent award demands
January 30, 2013 12:58 am | by PAUL ELIAS - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsA federal judge rejected Apple Inc.'s demand to increase the $1.05 billion in damages a jury ordered Samsung Electronics Inc. to pay its fiercest rival in the smartphone market. Late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh also rejected demands from both companies to conduct another trial on different issues over claims that the South Korean company unfairly used technology controlled by Apple to build its iPads and iPhones to market knockoff products.
OM to sell part of business for at least $325M
January 22, 2013 10:29 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsSpecialty chemicals maker OM Group Inc. said late Monday that it reached a deal to sell the downstream portion of its advanced materials business to a new joint venture for at least $325 million. The deal includes an initial cash payment of $325 million and potential future payments of up to an additional $110 million, if the business meets certain targets over the next three years.
Dreamliner woes spotlight Japan battery maker
January 17, 2013 6:00 am | by ELAINE KURTENBACH - AP Business Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe troubles with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner are drawing an unwelcome spotlight for the Japanese maker of the powerful lithium-ion batteries that have become the focus of investigations into onboard fire risks. Kyoto, Japan-based GS Yuasa Corp. said it began working Thursday with investigators probing the cause of recent problems with the 787.
ConocoPhillips selling some assets for $1.05B
January 15, 2013 8:55 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsConocoPhillips is selling some properties in North Dakota and Montana to a subsidiary of Denbury Resources Inc. for $1.05 billion. The oil and natural gas company said Tuesday that the Cedar Creek Anticline properties span about 86,000 net acres in southwestern North Dakota and eastern Montana....
Samsung drops Apple injunction bids in Europe
December 18, 2012 12:10 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsSamsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has withdrawn its requests to have sales of certain Apple products banned in Europe, though it is still pursuing lawsuits over technology licenses. The two companies are waging a legal battle on multiple fronts and across the world as they jostle for dominance in the more than $100 billion global smartphone market.
Stratasys, Objet complete merger
December 5, 2012 9:08 am | News | CommentsStratasys Inc. and Objet Ltd. announced the completion of their merger, forming a leader in 3D printing and direct digital manufacturing. The company will offer three technologies: FDM for functional prototypes and production parts; inkjet-based PolyJet for prototyping parts with high feature detail and fine surface finish; and Solidscape Drop-on-Demand thermoplastic ink-jetting technology for complex wax patterns for investment casting of finished parts.
IBM completes $1.3B acquisition of Kenexa
December 4, 2012 8:09 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsIBM Corp. has completed its $1.3 billion acquisition of human-resources-management company Kenexa Corp. to expand its line of cloud-based software services. The deal was first announced in late August. About 2,800 Kenexa workers scattered across the U.S. and 20 other countries are now joining IBM, which is based in Armonk, N.Y. Kenexa is based in Wayne, Pa.
Judge leaning toward OK of $22.5M fine of Google
November 16, 2012 2:02 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA federal judge in San Francisco says she is leaning toward approving a government settlement that will require Google to pay a $22.5 million fine to resolve allegations that it duped Web surfers using the Safari browser so it could track their online activities. The Federal Trade Commission...
BP near settlement with U.S. over Gulf spill
November 15, 2012 6:04 am | by ROBERT BARR - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsBritish oil company BP said Thursday it is in advanced talks with U.S. agencies about settling criminal and other claims from the Gulf of Mexico well blowout two years ago. In a statement, BP said "no final agreement has yet been reached" and that any such deal would still be subject to court approvals.
Study: Fraud growing in scientific research papers
October 2, 2012 4:00 am | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsA recent review of retractions in medical and biological peer-reviewed journals finds the percentage of studies withdrawn because of fraud or suspected fraud has jumped substantially since the mid-1970s. In 1976, there were fewer than 10 fraud retractions for every 1 million studies published, compared with 96 retractions per million in 2007.
Beckman Coulter to acquire IRIS
September 18, 2012 6:44 am | News | CommentsBeckman Coulter Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher Corp., announced that Danaher Corp. and a wholly owned subsidiary of Beckman Coulter have entered into a definitive merger agreement with IRIS International Inc. pursuant to which Beckman Coulter will acquire IRIS for $19.50 per share in cash, or an aggregate purchase price of approximately $378 million.
Agilent, Molecular Discovery join forces
September 17, 2012 10:13 am | News | CommentsAgilent Technologies Inc. announced that it has entered into a comarketing agreement with Molecular Discovery Ltd. to provide biopharmaceutical researchers with an advanced metabolite-identification platform.
