• MiMIC Journal

Foxconn Technology says it Sued Suyin for patent infringement in China

Foxconn Technology Group sued Suyin Corp.'s Dongguan, China subsidiary for allegedly infringing its patents for central processing unit sockets, its Taipei-based flagship Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange today. Foxconn sued Suyin in Dongguan Intermediate People's Court, the statement said.

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• Brief News

Banks become target for patent suits

Banking is the latest industry to be swept up in a wave of lawsuits that accuse companies of breaking the law by using expired patent numbers, a challenge many lawyers fear could expose some businesses to potentially huge liabilities.? Last week, Main Hastings LLC of Texas sued Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., HSBC USA Inc. and several other banks for allegedly listing on their websites expired patents tied to automated telephone technology. The allegedly expired patents appear to have been listed only once on each bank's website. Patents have a life span of 17 or 20 years. To keep them valid, companies must pay maintenance fees every four years. Once they expire, the holder is expected to remove the numbers from products. The banks sued last week were licensees of the patents, not the patent holders, but some defense attorneys believe they are still liable for listing the expired numbers on their sites. Many of the plaintiffs who have filed false-marking suits say they see themselves as consumer advocates because marking products with expired patents can deter competitors. So-called false-marking lawsuits, which typically target manufacturers for mislabeled items ranging from mascara tubes to paper cups, have mushroomed in recent months. Their use against banks, however, is a new twist. It follows litigation several years ago that forced banks into costly licensing deals for some of the technology in question. Most false-marking suits are pending. But defense attorneys who handle the claims said some have been settled as companies worry about hefty liability. Lawyers for product manufactures are concerned the appeals-court ruling means clients could be forced to pay as much as $500 for every item erroneously marked in a major product run. The lawsuits have qui tam provisions, similar to those in whistle-blower litigation, allowing plaintiffs to share in the proceeds of any penalties or settlements paid to the government.

Music industry braces for the unthinkable

After another year of plunging music sales, record company executives are starting to contemplate the unthinkable: The digital music business, held out as the future of the industry, may already be as big as it is going to get. In each of the past two years, the rate of increase in digital revenue has approximately halved. If that trend continues, digital sales could top out at less than $5 billion this year, about a third of the overall music market but many billions of dollars short of the amount needed to replace long-gone sales of compact discs. Music executives say Internet service providers hold the key to solving the piracy problems and helping the music companies recoup lost revenue. For the most part, providers have balked at taking stronger action against file-sharing, saying they do not want to snoop on their customers. Rights holders have grown more flexible as industry sales have collapsed, but they remain reluctant to license their music to some services. The industry has also balked at the unlimited MP3 format, which comes with no copy restrictions, allowing people to share music with friends or provide soundtracks for their own videos, or post songs to social networking sites. With growth in digital revenue slowing nearly to a standstill, analysts say, it is no surprise that talk of mergers and buyouts is again swirling around some of the Big Four music companies — Universal, Sony, Warner Music Group and EMI. Warner, for example, is said to have hired bankers to explore a sale of the company or a purchase of EMI.

At Davos, many problems await world leaders

Leaders from around the world will gather in Switzerland to try to rescue the planet. It's a safe bet that, for the 41st year in a row, they will fail. Even if it were possible to save the world in five days, the list of global problems just keeps getting longer. The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report, published this month, identified 37 major things to lose sleep over, one more than last year. The list included obvious risks like climate change, geopolitical conflict and government debt, and a few less obvious ones, including migration and new technologies. But just last year, for all the talk of crisis prevention, participants at the forum missed what proved to be the big economic story of 2010 — Europe's sovereign debt crisis. There was no sense that the common currency itself would be in danger.

Commission concludes Israel did not violate international law in flotilla raid

A civilian committee assigned to investigate the May 31 Israeli raid on several Turkish ships bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip on concluded that Israel did not violate international law. The Turkel Commission, headed by former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Yakov Tirkel, along with Shabbtai Rosen, an international law professor and former Israeli diplomat, and retired Major General Amos Horev, released the first part of its final report, finding that Israel was in full compliance with international law regarding both security maritime regulations and humanitarian obligations. The report was based on testamentary evidence provided by Israeli military officials, as well as both video and photographic evidence of the attack.

Brazil flood deaths top 800 with 400 still missing

Officials in Brazil say more than 800 people are now known to have died in floods and landslides in the south-east of the country this month. The flooding is considered the worst natural disaster Brazil has ever experienced. 

Ivory Coast cocoa exports 'banned'

The internationally recognized president of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, is seeking to impose a month-long ban on cocoa exports. Cocoa is a significant source of revenue for the administration of incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo. Traders have predicted the price of cocoa - already up 14% since November's disputed election - will rise further.

Facebook raises $1.5bn from investors

Facebook has said it has raised $1.5bn from investors, valuing the world's most popular social networking site at about $50bn. About $1bn of the total came from overseas clients of Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment bank handling the share sale. The remaining $500m came from Goldman itself, and Russia's Digital Sky Technologies. Facebook said it could have raised more money from the oversubscribed offer. The company said that it had "no immediate plans" for the proceeds from the fundraising, but would "continue investing to build and expand its operations".

Guatemala ex-president Alfonso Portillo goes on trial

Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo has gone on trial in Guatemala City on charges of embezzlement. Portillo denies stealing $15m from the defense ministry while he was in power between 2000 and 2004. The trial had been postponed repeatedly as Portillo's lawyers presented a series of objections to the legal process. Portillo is also wanted in the US for allegedly embezzling foreign donations for education projects. But under Guatemalan law, he must be tried in his own country before he can be extradited.

Cuba stops postal service to US 'until further notice'

Cuba has suspended all postal deliveries to the United States until further notice. The suspension follows the introduction of stricter security measures by the US last year after the attempted mailing of explosives from Yemen. The Cuban postal service says large amounts of mail were refused entry and returned in the following months. The cost of so many returns may have led to the decision to stop the service.

'Arms dealer' Viktor Bout's lawyer challenges US trial

A lawyer for suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout said she will challenge the US government's right to prosecute him. Sabrina Shroff told a federal court in New York City that since none of his alleged crimes occurred in the US, the US cannot try him. "It's a manufactured jurisdiction," she said. She will also argue the arrest of Mr Bout in 2008 in Bangkok was illegal under Thai law. The former Russian air force officer is accused of trying to sell arms to Colombian rebels and supplying weapons used in Africa and the Middle East.

France court convicts former Vivendi bosses of misleading investors, insider trading

A French court has fined the chairman and chief executive of Warner Music Group, Edgar Bronfman Jr, 5m euros ($6.7m). The fine relates to insider trading when he was a leading executive at Vivendi. He had denied wrongdoing. He was given a 15-month suspended sentence as well as the fine. The court also gave Vivendi's ex-boss Jean-Marie Messier a three-year suspended jail term for his part in the scandal.

Ryanair challenges Spanish court over boarding passes

Ryanair has threatened to turn away passengers arriving at check in without their pre-printed boarding pass unless a ruling from a Spanish court is overturned. Currently the airline charges £40 for a boarding pass for those who have not printed out their own. A judge in Barcelona has ruled that the charge is illegal. Ryanair has instructed its Spanish lawyers to appeal against the ruling, saying it is "bizarre and unlawful". Without the charge, the no frills airline said it would have to re-employ numerous handling agents to issue manual boarding cards for passengers who "forgot" to bring theirs with them.

Bangladesh suspends trading firms from stock exchange

Bangladesh has suspended six trading houses on the main Dhaka Stock Exchange. The move came after a fall on the index of 8.5%, or 587 points, which forced regulators to suspend trading. This was the second such plunge this month. Angry investors threw stones at police and smashed vehicles in protest at the suspension of trade. The Commission has placed a six month ban on the six companies over charges of market manipulation.

Can Congress mandate health insurance?

This week, House Republicans passed a bill to repeal the new health care law. The bill is expected to fall flat in the Senate. Behind all the rhetoric over the health care law lies a constitutional debate over whether Congress has the authority to force Americans to buy insurance.

California judge approves landmark settlement in teacher layoff case

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William F. Highberger approved a settlement on Friday effectively limiting the use of seniority in layoffs in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The class action suit against the State of California and LAUSD was originally filed in February 2010 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU/SC) and attorneys at Morrison & Foerster, LLP on behalf of California students. The class action suit accused the state of violating the California Constitution by failing to provide equal opportunity in education and violating the privileges and immunities clause by adhering to a "last-hired, first-fired" layoff policy. The attorneys argued that policy was responsible for the firing of effective teachers which decimated the educational quality at the Plaintiff's schools. The parties reached a settlement agreement in October which will prevent budget based layoffs in 45 schools whose educational quality would suffer from teacher turnovers and ensure that no school will experience greater turnover than the district average of layoffs that year. It also calls for the state to hire teachers that meet quality requirements and retention incentives to attract teachers and principals.

UK court finds for Nokia in patent suit

The UK Court of Appeal on Thursday found in favor of Finnish telecommunications company Nokia in its most recent patent suit against German intellectual property firm IPCom GmbH & Co. The ruling invalidates two European patents held by IPCom, for which the company had sought substantial compensation from Nokia. In reaching its decision, the court described IPCom's litigation tactics as an "abuse of process" designed to improperly prolong the proceedings. IPCom has had 13 additional patents nullified as a result of four prior UK suits involving Nokia, and arguments between the companies pertaining to an unrelated divisional patent are scheduled for April.

Mortgage giants leave legal bills to the taxpayers

Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending their former top executives in fraud lawsuits.

• Weekly Magazine Review

Time
The Roar of the Tiger Mom. In global testing, Shanghai and other parts of Asia left the U.S. in the dust.

Newsweek
The New Star Power. Hollywood’s best on playing hurt, kissing onscreen, work/life balance, and why none of them is on Facebook.

Business Week
Apple, With or Without Steve Jobs. The maker of iPads, iPhones, and Mac computers will prosper even if CEO Steve Jobs doesn't return. Keeping the company's revolutionary edge will be harder.

The Economist
The rich and the rest. What to do (and not do) about inequality.

Der Spiegel
Ausgebrannt - Das überforderte Ich

• Daily Press Review

Four-car pile up next to Lamcy Plaza causes traffic jams
Gulf News, Independent daily, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Lieberman: Leaked Palestinian documents prove interim deal is only option
Haaretz, Liberal daily, Tel Aviv, Israel

Sweden Slammed Over Iraqi Deportations
IPS Middle East, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

'Erdogan and Turkish government supported IHH'
JPost, Conservative, Jerusalem, Israel

Two killed in 18-car pile-up in Abu Dhabi
Khaleej Times, English-language daily, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

6.1 Magnitude Quake Hits Tajikistan
Nahamet, Online news portal, Beirut, Lebanon

Leak: Abbas pitched in 2008 Israel annex most Jerusalem settlements
The Daily Star, Independent daily, Beirut, Lebanon

Yemen is not like Tunisia, President Saleh
Yemen Observer, Sana'a, Republic of Yemen

Ivory Coast bid to squeeze Gbagbo's finances
BreakingNews.ie, Online news portal, Cork, Ireland

Giffords case 'set to take years'
Daily Express, Conservative tabloid, London, England

Fuel price hike 'problem' for motorists says Transport Secretary Philip Hammond
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Apple App Store downloads top 10 billion
DMeurope, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Marmaris to host 152,000 tourists arriving by sea
Hurriyet Daily News, (Liberal, English-language), Istanbul, Turkey

Slow death of Middle East peace process
The Guardian, Liberal daily, London, England

Tabak in court over Jo murder
The Sun, London, England

Jo Yeates murder: Vincent Tabak remanded in custody
The Telegraph, Conservative daily, London, England

How Apple Conquered the Content Market
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea

Six killed in road mishap in Surat
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India

Japan's chance to exploit Russian suspicion of China
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan

Southeast Australia set for another week of floods
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand

Too early to quantify flood impact: Australian Treasurer
People's Daily Online, English-language, Beijing, China

Pakistan governor's assassin in court hearing
Sify News, Chennai, India

Yeddyurappa to seek stay on sanction
The Hindu, Left-leaning daily, Chennai, India

Alberta mom wants inquiry into boys' deaths
Canadian Broadcasting Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Ivory Coast's Ouattara calls for cocoa export ban
The Globe and Mail, Centrist daily, Toronto, Canada

KZN police probing farmer shooting
News24.com, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa