Some conflicts never quite end.
Chevron Corp. has filed a motion to throw out a consolidated class action complaint filed on behalf of California consumers who allegedly were overcharged for reformulated or low-emission gasoline.
The suit alleges that executives of Union Oil Co. of California, the predecessor to Chevron’s subsidiary, Unocal Corp., lied to California regulators while helping draft state rules regarding reformulated gasoline during a four-year period beginning in 1990.
In 1995, the na-tion’s top refiners filed suit against Union Oil to invalidate its patents but lost a jury verdict that forced them to pay the company a royalty rate of 5.75 cents per gallon. In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission filed an anti-trust suit against Unocal for allegedly creating a monopoly over reformulated gasoline that could have cost California consumers an additional $500 million annually. Unocal settled the claim and agreed not to enforce any of its patents under the terms of its Aug. 10 merger with San Ramon-based Chevron.
“The FTC action did not seek damages; it was only seeking an injunction of the enforcement of the patent,” said Philip Cook, a partner at Jones Day who represents Chevron. “It’s our belief that there is zero impact on prices at the pump from Unocal’s enforcement of the patents.”
A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Christopher Heffelfinger, a partner at Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo, did not return calls.
Sticky Matters
Stamps.com Inc. is wrapping up the discovery phase of a patent dispute with the founder of E-Stamp Corp., one of the relics of the dot-com era.
Salim Kara, now the principal of Canada-based Kara Technology Inc., sued Stamps.com in October 2004 for alleged patent infringement in its NetStamps and PhotoStamps product lines.
“They’re asserting we infringed two of their patents and also saying we misappropriated some of their trade secrets, and we very much deny those assertions,” said Seth Weisberg, vice president and general counsel of Stamps.com.
NetStamps, launched in 2002, allows customers to print postage on sheets for later use. PhotoStamps, released this year, lets them put their own photos on stamps.
A hearing to prepare for trial is set for Jan. 30.
The case is the second involving Kara and Stamps.com. In 2003, Stamps.com settled a case alleging that Pitney Bowes Inc. infringed some of its patents acquired from its purchase of E-Stamp.
This and That
Average starting salaries for legal professionals are expected to rise 6.1 percent next year, according to a survey by Robert Half International Inc. For attorneys, starting salaries are expected to rise 5 percent in 2006, with the average annual salary of all lawyers hitting $128,000. Among the highest increases are first-year corporate associates, who can anticipate making between $55,750 and $83,500 Three lawyers have joined Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP’s Los Angeles office as partners. Paul Walker and Bruce Fraser, both real estate lawyers, and Elizabeth Walker, a litigator, come from Dewey Ballantine LLP Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP has snagged a corporate securities lawyer from Irell & Manella LLP. Ben David Orlanski, who specializes in equity, debt and securities offerings, has joined as a partner.
*Staff reporter Amanda Bronstad can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 225, or at
[email protected]
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