Patent owners beware — no downstream royalties for you.
In Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc., No. 06-937 (U.S. June 9, 2008), the Court extended the doctrine of patent exhaustion to "method" patents. It also held that the doctrine barred collection of royalties from a downstream user of products in which the patent
Justice Thomas wrote the opinion for a 9-0 Court.
Today a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act doesn’t require a plaintiff to show reliance on underlying fraud. The plaintiff may satisfy the causal element under RICO simply by proving that the predicate act proximately caused injury to its
FTC v. Intel. Symbolically.
The Federal Trade Commission announced a formal investigation into possible anticompetitive conduct by Intel, which makes and sells 80-90 percent of computer brains in the U.S. The unveiling, per the NYT, follows months of stalling by the former top FTC Commissioner, who now works as general counsel at Procter
The Ninth Circuit — per Chief Judge Alex Kozinski — yesterday upheld a class action complaint alleging securities fraud. The opinion aptly described the feat as "something much harder now than in days gone by." Whiting v. Applied Signal Technology, Inc., No. 06-15454 (9th Cir. June 5, 2008).
The complaint alleged that Applied Signal
A CBS Outdoor (formerly Viacom) railroad trestle sign.
A federal jury awarded two billboard companies, Craig Outdoor and Midwest Outdoor, $125,000 each in tort damages against Viacom for swiping billboard sites that it tricked them into identifying. Acting as agent for several railroads, Viacom asked for applications to build the big signs on rights of
The Supreme Court of New Jersey today ordered dismissal of claims that sought, on behalf of a class of people who took pain-killer Vioxx, recovery for the cost of monitoring them for signs of injury. The Court said:
We hold that the definition of harm under our Products Liability Law (PLA), N.J.S.A. 2A:58C-1 to -11,
Media magnate Rupert Murdoch may find less to grin about under a Barack Obama presidency.
Tonight, Senator Barack Obama claimed the Democratic nomination for President.
What sort of antitrust policy would he bring to the U.S. Department of Justice? A far more assertive one, Blawgletter thinks.
On May 18, the candidate said, according to Reuters
Confectionery giant Mars, Incorporated, and a subsidiary, Mars Electronic International, Inc., sued Coin Acceptors for infringing patents on technology that recognizes coins electronically and allows vending machines to drop correct change into the tray. The district court found infringement and ordered Coinco to pay a reasonable royalty of seven percent for the period 1996 through
A federal judge today sentenced Melvyn Weiss to 30 months in prison, Bloomberg reports. Mr. Weiss must also pay a $250,000 fine and forfeit another $9.75 million.
The sentencing comes two months after the former name partner in Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach pleaded guilty to participating in a racketeering conspiracy.
Bloomberg also
People come up all the time — usually lawyers but sometimes small children too — and ask "Blawgletter, what else will come out this Term from the U.S. Supreme Court?" (The tykes say "Mr. Blawgletter".) "Having to do with business law, I mean", they clarify.
Fancy that! As if Mr. Blawgletter has time to