Saint-Gobain

1. Supreme Court Rebuffs Saint-Gobain Fridge Patent Suit

Monday, Mar 08, 2010

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to weigh in on a patent battle over a refrigerator shelf in which Saint-Gobain Corp. sought to overturn a permanent injunction secured by appliance component maker Gemtron Corp.

2. Intervenor Attys Avert Penalty In Saw Blade Duty Row

Tuesday, Feb 16, 2010

Counsel for foreign saw blade manufacturers intervening in a duty dispute received a tongue lashing from a judge for relying on “phantoms in the record,” but have escaped sanction after arguing in vain for a stay in the case pending appeal.

3. Lafarge, Saint-Gobain To Pay $7.25M For Emissions

Thursday, Jan 21, 2010

Lafarge North America Inc. and Saint-Gobain Containers Inc. are set to fork over $5 million and $2.25 million, respectively, in civil penalties for alleged air emissions violations under the Clean Air Act.

4. Saint-Gobain Ordered To Pay $50M In Patent Spat

Friday, Dec 18, 2009

More than a year after a jury handed down its verdict in a patent dispute over medical-imaging scanner technology, a judge has entered a final judgment requiring a Saint-Gobain SA subsidiary to pay a Siemens AG unit $50.5 million for infringing a single Siemens patent.

5. Diamond Saw Blade Makers Cut Into Opposing Counsel

Thursday, Dec 03, 2009

A coalition of domestic manufacturers of diamond saw blades is asking the U.S. Court of International Trade to sanction the counsel for foreign manufacturers for filing a frivolous motion to stay the court's writ of mandamus.

6. US Challenges Writ Forcing Diamond Saw Blade Duties

Wednesday, Nov 25, 2009

Following in the footsteps of foreign manufacturers involved in the case, the U.S. government has appealed a writ of mandamus effectively forcing the U.S. Department of Commerce to begin collecting anti-dumping duties on diamond saw blades imported from China and Korea.

7. Saint-Gobain Wins $10.9M In Windshield Patent Case

Wednesday, Nov 11, 2009

A federal jury has handed Saint-Gobain Autover USA Inc. an award of $10.9 million in compensatory damages after finding that Chinese windshield company Xinyi Automobile Glass Co. Ltd. violated the glass manufacturing giant’s patents covering windshield technology.

8. Fed. Circ. Stays CIT Duty Order On Saw Blades

Thursday, Nov 05, 2009

The U.S. Court of International Trade has refused to stay anti-dumping duty orders on diamond saw blades from China and Korea, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has agreed to the stay pending an appeal.

9. 7th Circ. Split On FLSA Coverage Of Oral Complaints

Friday, Oct 16, 2009

A federal appeals court has opted not to revisit its ruling in a retaliation case from a former Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. employee, overriding three judges who consider the court’s interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act's anti-retaliation statute illogically narrow.

10. Blade Manufacturers Try To Saw Through CIT Ruling

Thursday, Oct 08, 2009

Foreign manufacturers are appealing an order by the U.S. Court of International Trade compelling the government to issue anti-dumping duty orders on diamond saw blades from China and Korea.

11. Fed. Circ. Thaws Injunction In Fridge Shelf Patent Spat

Tuesday, Jul 21, 2009

A federal appeals court has upheld the construction and validity of a patent claim for a refrigerator shelf, rejecting Saint-Gobain Corp.'s efforts to overturn a permanent injunction won by appliance component maker Gemtron Corp.

12. EU Raids Special Glass Cos. On Cartel Suspicions

Monday, Jul 06, 2009

The European Commission has confirmed that it conducted unannounced inspections in the special glass sector on suspicions that several companies have been running an illegal cartel.

13. Verbal Complaints Not Protected By FLSA: 7th Circ.

Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009

Widening the split among the federal appeals courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a purely verbal complaint is not an activity shielded under the retaliation provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

14. Saint-Gobain Settles FLSA Meal Break Suit

Tuesday, Jun 02, 2009

Just over a month after the suit was filed, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. has agreed to settle a class action by employees who claim they were required to work during meal breaks and were subjected to other Fair Labor Standards Act violations.

15. $52M Damages Pared In Siemens Scanner Patent Suit

Monday, May 18, 2009

A federal judge has slashed over $7 million from a $52.3 million damages award granted to a Siemens AG unit in a patent infringement suit against a Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA subsidiary over a patent on medical-imaging scanner technology.

16. U Of Neb. Sues Siemens Unit Over Lab Testing Patent

Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009

The board of regents of the University of Nebraska Medical Center has sued a unit of health care technology giant Siemens AG for allegedly infringing two laboratory testing patents that the school has licensed to Abbott Laboratories Inc.

17. Italy Launches Saint-Gobain Plasterboard Probe

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009

Italy's antitrust watchdog has launched a probe into a Saint-Gobain SA unit in the country after a complaint from a would-be competitor accused the plasterboard manufacturer of blocking entry into the market for the construction material.

18. Globalizing The Criminality Of Cartel Offenses

Friday, Feb 20, 2009

Australia and South Africa may now join the ranks of countries that impose criminal penalties for antitrust violations. This is part of an international trend, as nations on five continents now follow the U.S. approach of criminally prosecuting individuals — and corporations — for the most serious antitrust offenses, say Hugh M. Hollman, Chris Ahern and Steven W. Fleming of Jones Day.

19. EU Raids French Biomedical Analysis Firms

Thursday, Nov 13, 2008

Europe's competition watchdog said Thursday that it had carried out unannounced inspections in France along with the country's antitrust officials on two unnamed organizations in the biomedical analysis market.

20. EU Fines Glassmakers €1.3B Over Cartel

Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008

A group of automobile glass producers accused of illegal market sharing has been fined a record total of more than €1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) by the European Union’s antitrust watchdog.