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St. Jude Medical, Inc. announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Volcano Corporation for patent infringement. The global medical device company says that several products distributed by Volcano have infringed on patents. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
In the lawsuit, St. Jude alleges that Volcano products like PrimeWire pressure guide wire products infringe on key patents used for the St. Jude Medical PressureWire technology platform that the company acquired from Radi Medical Systems AB in December 2008.
“St. Jude Medical has made significant investments in the interventional cardiology space, including the coronary assessment and more recently the coronary imaging markets,” said Frank Callaghan, president of the St. Jude Medical Cardiovascular Division. “From clinical research to important product advancements, Radi Medical Systems and now St. Jude Medical have contributed considerably to the success of this marketplace. As a company that values the innovations we bring to the marketplace, we intend to protect our intellectual property.”
The patent lawsuit follows the acquisition of LightLab Imaging, Inc. by St. Jude Medical, which is also involved in its own litigation against Volcano.
It’s interesting to note that two former St. Jude executives serve on Volcano’s board, including former Chairman and CEO Ronald Matricaria and Michael Coyle, a former president of its Cardiac Rhythm Management division.
St. Jude’s suit seeks injunctive and monetary damages.
If you own a patent, it is important that you protect your intellectual property. If you think that someone else has violated your patented ideas, it is best to speak with a patent attorney to be apprised of your rights.
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Two former employees of Mario Batali are suing the celebrity chef for pay that they claim is rightly theirs. Stephanie Capsolas and Herman Ricardo Alvarado, a waitress and kitchen runner respectively, claim that Batali wrongly divvied up their tips with other employees.
Attorney Denise A. Schulman says that the restaurant Babbo, owned by Batali, was improperly taking 4.5 percent of its wine sales every night and subtracting it from the tip pool, which deprived employees of that income and decreased their base wage.
The employees’ class action lawsuit also claims that the workers are paid below minimum wage and work overtime, with shifts that exceed 10 hours.
Chef Mario Batali, who has not commented on the lawsuit, owns 15 eateries which are located in New York, Nevada and California.
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Just when you thought it couldn’t get more bleak for the beleaguered Hollywood A-lister, Mel Gibson is taking another hit… for allegedly hitting his ex-girlfriend, Russian singer Oksana Grigorieva. A photo has surfaced on the Internet of Grigorieva with a bruised left eye.
The photo, which was obtained exclusively by RadarOnline.com, is the evidence of what Grigorieva claims is physical abuse at the hands of Gibson. According to RadarOnline, the photographs that they obtained were taken the morning after a brutal confrontation between the couple on January 6, 2010.
Gibson denies physically assaulting Oksana, and his lawyers have told police that she has tried to extort him. He claims that the physical confrontation with his ex was due to her shaking their nine-month-old daughter Lucia “like a ragdoll.”
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has said that Gibson has met with detectives to discuss his charges of extortion against Oksana.
According to TMZ, Gibson also alleges that Oksana threatened to leak recordings of him to the press if he didn’t give her money. He reportedly presented authorities with e-mails and text messages to back his claims.
If you have been the victim of a domestic violence or are in any other major dispute with a spouse, it is best to consult with a family lawyer to discuss your legal options.
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Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill is opening up an investigation as to the legitimacy of the burial practices at Arlington National Cemetery. An internal army has been going through the cemetery and found nearly 211 discrepancies between burial maps and grave sites. Due to the fact that the army was only able to investigate a small area, this number can quickly turn into the thousands by the time the investigation is over.
The Democratic senator’s subcommittee designed to investigate potential contracting fraud has said that these mislabelings are to inadequate management and a reliance on paper records as opposed to electronic.
Those under question are former superintendent John Metzler and deputy superintendent Thurman Higginbotham, both of whom were forced to resign earlier this month. It is uncertain whether either will show up to the court hearing.
“We are doing everything we can to get both (of the officials) to the hearing,” according to McCaskill. “Their attendance is not a certainty.”
McCaskill calls this an issue of “heartbreaking incompetence” and says that the 5.5 million dollar attempt to computerize the grave sites may have all been in waste. The subcommittee chaired by McCaskill will hold a hearing in Washington this Thursday on its investigation.
Arlington National Cemetery holds more than 300,000 bestowed with military honors and includes graves of both former presidents and U.S. Supreme Court justices.
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With childhood obesity rates going through the roof, some think that desperate measures need to be taken. That may explain why last month, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) served McDonald’s with a notice of intent to sue if the fast food restaurant continues to promote Happy Meals with toys.
According to CSPI’s letter of intent, they are basing the potential lawsuit on the fact, they believe, McDonald’s is using toys to market to small children in a deceptive manner under the consumer protection laws in a number of states, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, and the District of Columbia.
The letter, in part, states that “McDonald’s practices are predatory and wrong” and “illegal, because marketing to kids under eight is inherently deceptive, because young kids are not developmentally advanced enough to understand the persuasive intent of marketing.”
In the company’s rebuttal, William Whitman, vice president of communications for McDonald’s USA, states: “We are proud of our Happy Meal, which gives our customers wholesome food and toys of the highest quality and safety. Getting a toy is just one part of a fun, family experience at McDonald’s.”
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Just as Toyota Motor Corp. has tried to turn the corner on the publicity blow they took on their Prius and other hybrid vehicles being recalled for brake problems, the company has suffered another blow. Toyota has been forced to recall an additional 270,000 cars due to faulty engines.
The number of vehicles that have been recalled is now about 8.5 million cars. The 2010 Prius wasn’t part of the earlier recalls.
The latest Toyota recall is the Lexus, affecting seven luxury sedan models, including 17,000 luxury hybrids. Tests showed that fuel can spill during a rear-end crash.
According to Japanese daily newspaper Asahi, the latest 270,000 vehicles being recalled could cost Toyota about $227 million.
The first recall cost Toyota a record $16.4 million fine in the United States for acting to slowly to recall defective vehicles. But they have acted quicker this time around.
“It is clear that Toyota has learned a lesson from the recall disaster. The company has acted very swiftly to deal with problems,” according to Ryoichi Saito, an auto analyst from Mizuho Investors Securities Co. Ltd.
If you have been the victim of a defective product, it is best to consult with a product liability attorney. Whocanisue.com can refer you to a lawyer in your hometown.
Courtesy of wired.com
Apple, the darling of the tech world, finds itself the target of multiple class-action lawsuits over its new iPhone 4. Two people taking legal action, Kevin McCaffrey and Linda Wrinn, cannot return their phones without incurring a restocking fee, according to the court where they filed their lawsuit.
The iPhone 4, which shipped to consumers in late June, started seeing reports that holding the phone with fingers covering the three black lines on the phone’s edge and the bottom left corner caused a dramatic drop in data reception. This has become known as the “iPhone Death Grip.”
The lawsuits point to advertisements that promise improved reception and overall service as examples of both Apple’s and AT&T’s deceptive trade practices.
“Almost immediately after the purchase of their iPhone 4 devices, both McCaffrey and Wrinn began to experience significantly reduced reception and performance when handling the phones as demonstrated in Apple’s advertisements or as a reasonable person would handle a mobile telephone while making phone calls, browsing the Internet, sending text messages, or utilizing other services provided by the iPhone 4,” according to the lawsuit.
It has been reported that Apple is prepping for a software update that will alleviate connection problems.
Sounding like a scene from The Minority Report, the hit film by Steven Spielberg, a New Jersey jail is using a computer system to screen inmates to determine if they will commit hostile acts. The Spielberg film was about a future society that was able to predetermine a criminal act, with law enforcement officers able to swoop in and arrest people before they commit the crime.
Called Cogito, the computer system “emulates the work of an interrogation expert and can accurately expose hostile intents and hidden information in as little as five minutes,” according to Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire.
Cogito, developed by the Israeli-based Suspect Detection Systems, uses sensors that measure the person’s “psycho-physiological responses,” which is similar to a polygraph test.
The computer system was used in a pilot study by the New Jersey jail. The prison official used the system by placing an inmates palm in a sensor, and then having them answer a series of questions. The results of the study have been presented at the National Sheriffs’ Association Conference, in Anaheim, California.
“In Bergen County, we have seen promising results when administering the Cogito system as part of our traditional intake procedures,” writes Sheriff McGuire.
Hostile intent technologies have their critics. Many experts say that there is no science to support the ability to detect behavior before it happens. There has also been criticism of the Transportation Security Administration’s use of similar technology, saying that there is no proof that any terrorists have been caught with it.
A new Iowa law set to go into effect this week prohibits drivers from using their cell phones or other electronic devices while operating their vehicle. The phenomenon of distracted drivers and the damage done on the road has gotten increased attention in recent months.
The new law sets a moratorium for a year on police issuing fines for phone-related offenses.
“A good majority are pretty much addicted to those cell phones,” said Ron Bandy, an Iowa driver’s education instructor. “It will be extremely hard. It’s going to be like trying to overcome a drug addiction.”
According to a University of Utah study, the distraction related to texting is equivalent to having a blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent, which is the legal limit in most states.
There are exceptions allowed under the new law, including people involved in public safety work, health-care professionals involved in emergency situations, truck drivers with digital dispatch systems, and drivers who are getting safety-related information.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there are eight states that have banned hand-held cell phone use (California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington). The District of Columbia also has a ban.
The law takes effect July 1, but there will be a one-year “educational period” where violators will be given a warning ticket.
If you have been the victim of a car accident that was caused by a distracted driver who was texting or using their cell phone illegally, it is best to contact a car accident attorney. Whocanisue.com can suggest a highly qualified car accident attorney in your area.
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