MidwestRSS

  • March 1, 2006

    Gateway Pays HP $47M to Settle Patent Litigation

    After an ongoing battle in court, industry rivals Hewlett-Packard and Gateway Inc. resolved their outstanding intellectual property litigation Wednesday, with Gateway agreeing to fork over $47 million to HP without admission of fault.

  • February 28, 2006

    Slimmed-Down ATA Emerges From Chapter 11

    ATA Airlines rose from the ashes of bankruptcy on Tuesday as the one-time 10th largest airline carrier in the U.S. wrapped up its emergence plans.

  • February 28, 2006

    Injunction Clears Early Threat To TAP's Lupron Depot

    Generic drug maker QLT Inc. has been dealt yet another blow in its effort to maintain its presence in the market for prostate cancer treatments, with a federal judge issuing a damaging injunction and setting the stage for a drawn-out appeal.

  • February 28, 2006

    Northwest Abandons Key Flight Attendant Request: Union

    In what amounts to a significant concession, bankrupt Northwest Airlines Corp. has reportedly retreated from an earlier demand to staff overseas flights with mainly non-U.S flight attendants, according to the airline’s Professional Flight Attendants Association.

  • February 27, 2006

    Creditors Object To Terms Of Musicland Asset Sale

    The committee of unsecured creditors for bankrupt Musicland Holding Corp. is accusing the company of trying to stifle competition from other buyers through the terms of its $104 million asset sale to rival Trans World Entertainment Corp.

  • February 27, 2006

    Showdown Begins Over Tower’s Union Contracts

    Despite the looming threat of a union strike, Tower Automotive Inc. pressed on with its quest to reject collective bargaining agreements on Monday, with the auto parts maker claiming that it would not be able to emerge from Chapter 11 proceedings if the contracts were upheld.

  • February 27, 2006

    Monsanto In $200M Settlement Over Hormone Patents

    The Regents of the University of California are walking away with a big win for their intellectual property, with chemical firm Monsanto Co. handing over $100 million to end a patent infringement lawsuit over a hormone for dairy cows.

  • February 27, 2006

    Federal Circuit Deals Blow To Glaxo In Patent Fight

    Generic pharmaceutical company Apotex Inc. has received a boost from a federal appeals court in its ongoing patent dispute with drug maker GlaxoSmithKline Plc. involving the widely-used antidepressant drug Paxil.

  • February 24, 2006

    Prosecutors Mull Milberg Weiss Indictment

    An indictment against Milberg Weiss could have dire consequences for the firm, but prosecutors may not have enough ammunition to go after the legendary plaintiffs firm, experts agree.

  • February 24, 2006

    Bankruptcy Haunts Winston & Strawn In Corruption Case

    Bankruptcy attorneys at law firm Winston & Strawn LLP have been accused of potential bias for allegedly declining to sue a debtor who is also a witness in the firm’s high-profile defense of former Illinois governor George H. Ryan.

  • February 24, 2006

    Oblon Spivak Taps Former USPTO Judge

    Oblon, Spivak has retained the services of former U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Judge Beth A. Chapman, continuing a time-honored tradition of hiring top talent from the patent office.

  • February 24, 2006

    Mesaba Creditors Demand Future Protection From Judge

    Worried they will receive short shrift, Mesaba Aviation’s unsecured creditors have asked the court to guarantee that the bankrupt regional carrier does not promote the interests of its parent company ahead of their own.

  • February 23, 2006

    HealthSouth Dishes Out $445M In Settlement

    HealthSouth Corp., the beleaguered healthcare provider, has agreed to pay out at least $445 million in a preliminary deal to resolve a host of federal lawsuits stemming from its recent financial scandals.

  • February 23, 2006

    Third Wave Drops HCV Suit Against Chiron, Bayer

    Resolving all but one of the company’s patent-related disputes, molecular diagnostics company Third Wave Technologies Inc. has dismissed without prejudice its suit against rivals Chiron Corp. and Bayer Corp. over technology related to the hepatitis C virus, or HCV.

  • February 21, 2006

    Bank of America May Pay $25M Over Money Laundering

    Accused of complicity in Latin American money laundering, Bank of America Corp. is reportedly nearing a settlement with the U.S. District Attorney’s Office in a widespread investigation that has already roped in several major banks and yielded tens of million of dollars in fines.

  • February 21, 2006

    Judge Rejects Owens Corning Shareholders’ Plea

    Delivering a devastating blow, a federal bankruptcy judge has rejected an ad hoc group of Owens Corning shareholders’ request for official representation in the fiberglass manufacturer’s long-standing bankruptcy case.

  • February 21, 2006

    Former MCA Exec To Pay $242M In Fraud Scandal

    In the latest judgment handed down in the largest securities scandal in Michigan history, the former president of MCA Financial Corp., the fallen Detroit-area mortgage firm, has been sentenced to a five-year prison term and ordered to pay $242.6 million to investors.

  • February 21, 2006

    AstraZeneca Slapped with Antitrust Lawsuit Over Toprol

    Charged once again with violating U.S. competition law, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca stands accused of illegally trying to prevent generic versions of its blockbuster heart drug Toprol-XL from entering the marketplace, in a lawsuit filed recently by a pension fund.

  • February 21, 2006

    DOJ Reviews Whirlpool-Maytag Proposed Merger

    Whirlpool Corp.'s proposed $1.79 billion acquisition of Maytag Corp. was put on hold earlier this month, with the appliance makers agreeing to give U.S. antitrust authorities an extra month to review their proposed merger, which would result in the world's largest appliance-making company.

  • February 17, 2006

    Pliant Plucks Sonnenschein To Be Special Counsel

    Bankrupt Pliant Corp. has requested the services of Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal LLP, hoping the firm can help navigate the beleaguered food packaging company through the often choppy waters of Chapter 11 proceedings.