Staples

1. Microsoft Founder Declares War Over Web Patents

Friday, Aug 27, 2010

Microsoft Corp. co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen has taken aim at a slew of major technology and e-commerce companies — including Google Inc., Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. — over four Web patents owned by his company Interval Licensing LLC.

2. Dr. Pepper, Staples Hit With Procurement Patent Suit

Tuesday, Aug 17, 2010

E-Lynxx Corp., a company that specializes in procurement, has launched a lawsuit against Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc., Staples Inc. and others for allegedly infringing a patent related to a computer-based electronic procurement system.

3. Hickory Springs Named In Polyurethane Antitrust Suit

Tuesday, Aug 17, 2010

A carpet seller has lodged a putative class action against Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co. and other polyurethane distributors, saying they fixed prices and agreed not to share customers in violation of the Sherman and Clayton acts.

4. Illegal Pay Verdict Against POGO, Gov't Worker Nixed

Friday, Aug 06, 2010

A federal appeals court has ruled that a district court erred when it failed to instruct a jury to account for an oversight group's intent in sharing settlement money from an oil royalties-related qui tam suit with a government adviser, an exchange that allegedly violated a law restricting nongovernment pay for federal workers.

5. Troubleshooting NSA’s Complaint Against Amex

Friday, Jul 16, 2010

Like the lawsuit filed against Domino’s Pizza in the 1990s by a number of Domino’s franchisees, the National Supermarket Association's complaint against American Express is destined to fail for market definition reasons — without even considering the serious standing problem that the NSA has given other allegations in the complaint, say Philip D. Bartz and Nicholas S. Sloey of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP.

6. Dell Settles In Inventor's Online Security Patent Row

Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010

Dell Inc. has resolved its part in a suit brought by inventor Leon Stambler accusing a broad range of companies of infringing two patents related to secure online transactions.

7. Amazon, Target Exit Online Data Security Patent Suit

Friday, Jun 11, 2010

Retail giants Amazon.com Inc. and Target Corp. have resolved inventor Leon Stambler's suit accusing a plethora of companies across a broad range of industries of infringing two patents related to secure online transactions.

8. HSN Exits DataTern Database Patent Suit

Friday, Jun 11, 2010

Television retailer HSN Inc. has become the latest defendant to resolve a patent infringement suit brought by DataTern Inc. against a wide range of companies over database technology used on websites.

9. Apple, Yahoo, Others Fire Back In Web Patent Suit

Tuesday, Jun 08, 2010

Apple Inc., Yahoo Inc., eBay Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have fired back in Eolas Technologies Inc.'s infringement suit over website technology, claiming that the plaintiff's founder hid information on a prior art Web browser during the prosecution of the two asserted patents.

10. Parallel Sues Dozens More Over Web Services Patent

Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010

Parallel Networks Inc. has filed yet another infringement suit over a client services communications patent, targeting dozens more companies including Sony Electronics Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., Target Corp. and Foot Locker Inc.

11. UPP Merger Test May Not Go Down Easy, Experts Say

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

As the antitrust community considers recent proposed changes to the merger review guidelines followed by U.S. antitrust regulators, a judge's recent rejection of one proposed screening test confirms that efforts by enforcers to wield alternatives to the traditional market-definition test as a weapon in future cases will face an uphill battle, experts say.

12. Broadblast Makes Exit From Mass Message IP Suit

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Tech Radium Inc. has dropped Broadblast Inc. from a suit accusing nearly a dozen communications companies of infringing three mass notification patents.

13. NBC, Others Sued Over Search Engine Registration IP

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Site Update Solutions LLC has accused 35 companies — including Target Corp., NBC Universal Inc., Adobe Systems Inc, Amazon.com Inc. and The Walt Disney Co. — of infringing a patent for registering websites on search engines.

14. AT&T, Others Face Suit Over Videoconference Patent

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Acacia Research Corp. unit Teleconference Systems LLC has sued AT&T Corp. and Frito-Lay North America Inc. for allegedly infringing a videoconferencing patent, in an offshoot of a fight against Cisco Inc. over its TelePresence systems.

15. Comarco Recalls 500K Laptop Power Adapters

Monday, May 03, 2010

Comarco Inc. is recalling more than 500,000 laptop power adapters over concerns that faulty wiring can cause the devices to overheat, posing a burn risk for consumers.

16. Online Security IP Suit V. Ticketmaster, Others Survives

Thursday, Apr 22, 2010

A federal judge has refused to toss inventor Leon Stambler's suit accusing a slew of retailers of infringing two patents for online transaction security technology, despite claims from defendants Travelocity LP and Ticketmaster LLC that earlier litigation already addressed the same issues.

17. Goldman, Sears Targeted In New DataTern IP Suit

Tuesday, Apr 20, 2010

DataTern Inc. has launched another infringement suit against a pack of major companies — including retailers such as Sears Holdings Corp. and Staples Inc. and financial firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. — over a pair of database patents.

18. Staples Settles Shareholder Backdating Claims

Monday, Apr 19, 2010

Executives of office supplies purveyor Staples Inc. have reached a deal with shareholders in litigation over an alleged stock option backdating scheme from 1994 through 2003, which the plaintiffs have called a breach of fiduciary duty and a committed waste of corporate assets.

19. Rising Star: Linklaters' Stan Renas

Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010

Linklaters LLP partner Stan Renas has structured some of the biggest deals in the emerging market for emissions offset trading and advised the World Bank on its role as a trustee under the Kyoto Protocol, earning him a place on Law360's list of 10 environmental attorneys under 40 to watch.

20. Rising Star: White & Case's Eric Grannon

Wednesday, Mar 24, 2010

Having faced down federal regulators in both of the only two reverse payment cases to be litigated to conclusion, White & Case LLP's Eric Grannon has a reputation for taking on the U.S. government in high-profile antitrust cases that makes him one of Law360's 10 competition lawyers under 40 to watch.