GLG News in Legal, Economic & Regulatory Affairs

A federal appeals court has cleared the way for cable and satellite companies to allow consumers to record and store programming remotely on the cable company's servers.  This will provide more storage and perhaps more functions than on a DVR, and bypass the need to even have one. The case stands a good chance of being appealed to the Supreme Court for a final ruling that could be as far-reaching...

Why does the supervisory board announces claim damages against 11 of its former executive board members? Will their be compensation which is high enough to cover the damages to the companies name? Of course not. Do they want to avoid future briberies. Of course not. Siemens is afraid to be punished by the US SEC and they want to avoid being investigated in their own companies. It is a weel known secret...

1. One of the reasons behind the new draft for the regulation of photovoltaic (PV) solar energy in Spain, which changes dramatically this sector’s regulation, is the significant effect that, the Ministry for Industry argues, the PV feed-in tariff has on the electricity tariff. But this is neither the only nor the most important factor. 2. The second reason is to provide the right incentives for...

1. The merger of British Airways and Iberia makes good common sense for at least five reasons. 2. It could even be the first step towards the largest airline in the world by merging in the future with their partner American Airlines.

1. It seems very unlikely that any last-minute surprise avoids that Gas Natural, finally and after two other attempts in 2003 and 2005, takes over a Spanish electricity company. 2. The next battle is going to be fought in Iberdrola’s court, but it’s going to be very difficult for ACS’ Florentino Pérez to win the battle against the “master and commander” of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán.

1. The cap on photovoltaic (PV) power capacity will be based on annual caps with the new regulation, rather than on accumulative power, as with current regulation. 2. Feed-in tariffs are significantly cut by the new regulation, especially for on-the-ground facilities.

Siemens announced that the Supervisory Board has approved recommendations of its law firm to claim damages from executive board members in charge between 2003 and 2006. It will be the first time in German history that a chief executive of a company listed on the German blue-chip stock index DAX has been sued for damages by his former employer.

With the Nokia fight now resolved, QCOM's primary litigation issues all involve Broadcom.  The most pressing of those is QCOM's pending attempt to reverse its loss last year at the International Trade Commission.  On that, recent events bode well.

There are two big BRCM/QCOM cases rapidly moving toward their final scenes: the ITC case, which I discuss in a previous post; and the Santa Ana patent case, where BRCM asserts three patents.  Earlier this month, the Federal Circuit heard the appeal in the Santa Ana case; and if they heard the issues the way I did, QCOM gained considerable ground, in particular on the '686 patent.

Will fines like this against a health care provider increase the likelihood of coverage for existing & future claims? Will insurance coverage in general be affected by fines like this?