The curious case of the iphone trademark: Apple loses fight over iPhone name in China May 4, 2016 Apple has lost a legal battle against a Chinese handbag maker over its use of the iPhone trademark. Xintong Tiandi, a Chinese company that sells leather purses and phone cases, trademarked "IPHONE" in 2010. Apple filed a trademark for “iPhone” in 2002, but got approval only in 2013. The tech giant launched a legal tirade against [...]
Oil field service companies announce breakdown of $28bn merger following intervention from US authorities May 2, 2016 Halliburton and Baker Hughes have called off their $28bn (£19.2bn) merger, which would have represented the largest oil field services acquisition ever. The deal abandonment comes after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) last month filed a lawsuit to stop the merger. The DOJ said Halliburton's acquisition of its smaller rival would hamper competition, raise [...]
Nike partially refunds FuelBand customers to settle lawsuit alleging wristband claims are inaccurate July 28, 2015 Nike will give partial refunds to customers who bought its FuelBand fitness tracker in the past three-and-half years, settling a lawsuit which alleged the device was inaccurate. The wristband, which costs around £100 in the UK, was designed in collaboration with Apple to keep track of a users' sleep patterns, calories burned and steps taken, [...]
St Emilion wine has a chequered reputation but I’m discovering it can be worth a little TLC August 2, 2016 Sometime later this summer, when I have ploughed my way through another 100 pages of paperwork and weaved through a bewildering slalom of French bureaucracy, I will have realised a dream. I am buying a house in Bordeaux, a few miles from St Emilion. It sits in a small hamlet in Entre-Deux-Mers, surrounded by well-tended [...]
PM’s takeover test may do more Arm than good July 29, 2016 We're less than a month into Theresa May’s administration but there’s already a worrying air of economic policy schizophrenia drifting through Whitehall. The new Prime Minister has the most daunting in-tray of any incoming Premier for decades, but she needs to flesh out her vision for corporate Britain fast; what she has offered so far [...]
US seeks to block Halliburton-Baker Hughes deal April 6, 2016 The US Department of Justice today filed a lawsuit to stop what would be the largest oil field services acquistiion ever. The DOJ said Halliburton's acquisition of its smaller rival Baker Hughes would hamper competition, raise prices, and reduce innovation across the industry. "The proposed deal between Halliburton and Baker Hughes would eliminate vital competition, skew energy markets [...]
New York City’s “responsible banking” law ruled unconstitutional after lawsuit from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan August 10, 2015 Is New York City’s notoriously tough line on banks after the crisis about to loosen up? The city’s Responsible Banking Act has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, reports news agency Reuters. The law demanded that banks provide documentation for an advisory board to review how well they met the needs of low- and [...]
News Corp posts third quarter revenue fall as profits were hit by one-off charge and continuing lower advertising sales May 5, 2016 Global media behemoth News Corp posted a revenue fall in its third quarter results on Thursday, as profits were hit by a one-off charge and low print advertising sales continued to decline. The figures The owner of The Sun, The Times and the Wall Street Journal said its revenues had declined 7.3 per cent to $1.89bn (£1.3bn) in [...]
Daimler just became the latest car manufacturer to look into its diesel emissions figures April 22, 2016 Another car manufacturer is in trouble, after Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler announced an internal investigation into its emissions certification in the US on Friday. The probe came at the request of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to look into the Daimler’s certification process for diesel exhaust emissions. In the same breath, the company defended itself against a class-action lawsuit filed [...]
£8.2bn tobacco lawsuit is no deterrent says City June 2, 2015 CITY investors and analysts insist that tobacco stocks are still good value for money, despite recent Canadian lawsuits totalling £8.2bn. The figure comes after the Quebec Superior Court found British American Tobacco (BAT), Rothmans B&H and JTI-MacDonald liable for moral and punitive damages in two lawsuits representing nearly one million smokers on Monday. One fund [...]