Amgen Gets Mixed Results on Court Patent Ruling
A U.S. Court of Appeals issued a mixed ruling in Amgen Inc.’s longstanding battle to prevent two other drugmakers from selling a drug that would compete with Amgen’s widely used Epogen anemia medicine. The case started in 1997, when Amgen sued drugmakers Hoechst Marion Roussel and Transkaryotic Therapies, alleging their products infringed on five Amgen patents. Hoechst, after a merger, is now part of Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis and Transkaryotic has since been acquired by United Kingdom-based Shire Pharmaceuticals Group Plc. This week the U.S. Court of Appeals vacated, remanded and reversed three of the lower court’s earlier judgments that had been favorable to Amgen but affirmed a judgment that the two drugmakers had infringed claims on two other Amgen patents.
Cheesecake Factory Next on SEC’s Options List
Cheesecake Factory Inc. received an informal inquiry from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about its stock-option practices, the company said in a filing. The Calabasas Hills-based casual dining restaurant operator joins the list of more than 80 other companies being investigated for options activity. The company had already appointed an outside panel to investigate its stock options in early July.
Entravision Selling Dallas Stations
Entravision Communications Corp., a Spanish-language media company, said it has agreed to sell its Dallas radio stations for $95 million to Liberman Broadcasting of Dallas Inc. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter, the Santa Monica-based broadcast company said.
Workers Suspended for Union Support
Officials at the Westin LAX suspended 39 workers for refusing to remove their union buttons. Unite Here Local 11 filed a charge with the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the Westin LAX Hotel discriminated against employees in order to discourage their support for unionizing their workplace. Most of the workers at Westin LAX are immigrants, according to an announcement from Unite HERE.
