Dec. 28, 2010 at 8:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Litigation,
Packaged foods
By Associated Press
Starbucks Corp., which is in a legal dispute with Kraft Foods Inc. over a distribution deal, says the foodmaker has not performed up to its expectations — with Kraft admitting missteps in internal communications.
Kraft, which says the coffee chain violated terms of a distribution deal, announced late last week that a New York court may consider its request for a preliminary injunction against Seattle-based Starbucks. Both companies have until Jan. 21 to present their positions. Get the full story »
Bloomberg News | Apple Inc. has been sued over claims that some of its iPhone and iPad apps, including Pandora and dictionary.com, transmit users’ personal information to advertisers.
Dec. 27, 2010 at 11:52 a.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Litigation
By Dow Jones Newswires
Disgruntled Blockbuster Inc. creditor Lyme Regis Partners LLC has sued Carl Icahn, alleging that the billionaire investor set the video-rental chain up to fail so he could take it over.
In the lawsuit filed last week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, junior bondholder Lyme Regis said Icahn took advantage of his “insider” status, including his approval of a 2009 bond issuance while he served as a Blockbuster board member, to put himself in a position to own the company upon its emergence from Chapter 11. Get the full story »
Dec. 23, 2010 at 4:46 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Food,
Litigation
By Julie Wernau
The Peace, Love, Popcorn logo is being challenged by the Popcorn Factory.
The Popcorn Factory's logo
Here’s the story of how peace and love turned into a lawsuit about popcorn.
In May 2008, Gary Paparella and his youngest daughter, Meagan, were at a Pittsburgh restaurant doodling logos and names on napkins for a gourmet popcorn and candy store. The family was moving to Frisco, Texas, for Paparella’s job at Dr Pepper Snapple Group and had decided to leave the corporate world behind to open a family business.
That’s when 19-year-old Meagan wrote the words “love peace popcorn,” doodling a heart, a peace sign and a piece of popcorn. Today, the brick and mortar store sells “peace love popcorn” T-shirts, fudge and, of course, popcorn in more than 60 flavors — even dill pickle-flavored. They’re on Twitter, Facebook and online with three registered domain names. They even trademarked the name and logo.
Get the full story »
Dec. 23, 2010 at 5:39 a.m.
Filed under:
Insurance,
Labor,
Litigation
By Reuters
Bailed-out insurer American International Group will pay $100 million in fines in a settlement with all 50 states over reporting errors for premiums on workers’ compensation insurance. Get the full story »
Dec. 21, 2010 at 5:15 p.m.
Filed under:
Education,
Litigation
By Associated Press
Federal authorities on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Kaplan Higher Education Corp. for allegedly discriminating against black job applicants by screening the credit history of potential employees.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says the practice of rejecting job seekers based on their credit history has a discriminatory impact on some racial and ethnic groups. The lawsuit alleges that Kaplan’s practice is not job-related or justified by business necessity. Get the full story »
Dec. 21, 2010 at 4:56 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Technology,
Telecommunications
By Reuters
A trade panel that specializes in patent cases has agreed to hear the complaint of Motorola’s subsidiary Motorola Mobility against Microsoft, the panel said on Tuesday.
Motorola Mobility, which makes handsets and is being spun off by Motorola, has accused Microsoft of infringing its patents to make some Xbox video game consoles. Get the full story »
Dec. 21, 2010 at 4:33 p.m.
Filed under:
Investigations,
Litigation
By Ameet Sachdev
An insider-trading lawsuit against a Deerfield ophthalmologist has been dismissed after a judge found that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not have enough evidence to show that the doctor possessed material, nonpublic information.
In February, the SEC had filed a civil suit against Dr. Gerald Horn, accusing him of engaging in illegal insider trading in the stock and options of his employer, LCA Vision Inc., between December 2005 and August 2006. The trades resulted in illicit gains of $1.4 million, the SEC said.
The SEC alleged that Horn accessed nonpublic information contained in monthly reports that listed the number of laser eye surgeries performed companywide to determine whether LCA would meet its quarterly revenue targets. He then made successful options purchases on the basis of that information, the SEC said. Get the full story »
Dec. 21, 2010 at 4:25 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Internet,
Litigation,
Updated
By Julie Johnsson
Orbitz Worldwide Inc. stopped selling American Airlines’ tickets on Tuesday afternoon after a Cook County Circuit Court judge allowed the nation’s #3 airline to yank all content from the online travel giant.
American said it pulled its inventory from Orbitz immediately after the ruling. Customers who need to change tickets booked through Orbitz.com should call 1-800-433-7300, the airline advised.
Texas-based American had sought to sever ties to the Chicago-based online travel agency on Dec. 1 as a result of a contract dispute with Orbitz and Travelport, the online travel giant’s largest shareholder. Get the full story »
Dec. 21, 2010 at 1:41 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
International,
Litigation
By Associated Press
A French prosecutor’s office said Tuesday it is appealing the court ruling that blamed Continental Airlines for the deadly crash of a supersonic Concorde jet outside Paris a decade ago.
Prosecutors at the court in Pontoise, outside Paris, had argued that the former head of the Concorde program at planemaker Aerospatiale should share some legal responsibility with Continental for the crash. Get the full story »
Dec. 21, 2010 at 6:33 a.m.
Filed under:
Cell phones,
Litigation,
Wireless
By Associated Press
Competition among smart phone makers is heating up at retail, in advertising and, increasingly, in the courtroom as handset and software makers wield patent lawsuits to protect their turf and slow down their rivals.
Though Apple’s iPhone changed the categoryin 2007 and still leads the market, there are a flood of rivals and copy cats making it difficult for smart phone makers to stand out to consumers or persuade them to pay more for their devices.
In turn, that has prompted a slew of patent disputes over all aspects of basic phone use, from the way a user swipes a touch screen to perform an action to the method a phone uses to extend battery life. Nokia is suing Apple, Apple is suing HTC, Microsoft is suing Motorola and more. Get the full story »
Dec. 17, 2010 at 3:08 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Technology,
Wireless
Bloomberg News | The International Trade Commission has agreed to review a patent and licensing dispute between Motorola Mobility and Microsoft that could result in an import ban on the latter’s Xbox game system.
Dec. 16, 2010 at 11:26 a.m.
Filed under:
Litigation
By Associated Press
The Supreme Court of Canada will hear an appeal by ex-business associates of Conrad Black who argue Canadian courts are not the proper forum for the former media mogul to pursue libel suits against them. Get the full story »
Dec. 16, 2010 at 9:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Litigation
Form Crain’s Chicago Business | Peoples Energy filed suit Wednesday against Chicago lawyer Theodore Tetzlaff and his firm, Ungaretti & Harris LLP, alleging he authorized the destruction of documents in a class-action suit in violation of a court order. Peoples is seeking at least $4.66 million in damages. Get the full story>>
Dec. 15, 2010 at 1:52 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Media,
TV
By Bruce Japsen
DirecTV Group Inc. has agreed to pay $13.3 million in civil penalties and costs, including $185,000 to the state of Illinois, to settle allegations that the satellite-TV service provider used misleading sales and marketing practices. Get the full story »
