Lawmakers scrutinize Blackstone tax bill, IPO
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A co-author of a U.S. Senate bill that would raise taxes on private equity firms going public said on Wednesday he was open to discussing shortening a built-in transition period that cushions any potential tax hit on Blackstone Group LP.
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Companies on both sides of a patent overhaul debate in the U.S. Congress are stepping up the pressure on lawmakers, as some observers expect a vote soon in the Senate.Two groups, one supporting patent legislation before the Senate and one against it, held dueling media briefings on patent reform on Capitol Hill Thursday. Members of the Coalition for Patent Fairness, including lawyers from Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems, and SAP, said they see broad support for the Patent Reform Act in the Senate and hope senators will soon&#160;follow the House of Representatives&#39; lead and pass the bill.The coalition sent a letter to Senate leaders Wednesday, calling on them to pass the Patent Reform Act. The bill will &quot;benefit all American workers and American consumers,&quot; said the letter, signed by 128 companies and organizations, including Amazon, Dell, eBay, and Intel.But another group, the Innovation Alliance, sent a letter to Senate leaders Tuesday urging them to reject the legislation.&quot;No compelling case has been made for a bill written in this fashion,&quot; read the Innovation Alliance letter, signed by 430 companies and organizations. &quot;It is based on claims of a crisis in the current patent system that does not exist, supported by selective assertions which do not hold up under scrutiny.&quot;Among the companies and organizations signing the Innovation Alliance letter were the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA, the NanoBusiness Alliance, Cargill, Coca-Cola, and Qualcomm.Both the House and Senate versions of the Patent Reform Act would overhaul the U.S. patent system, but two pieces of the legislation have generated the most controversy. The bills would create a new way to challenge patents after they&#39;ve been granted, and it would allow courts to change the way they assess damages in patent-infringement cases.Currently, courts generally consider the value of the entire product when a small piece of the product infringes a patent. The legislation would allow courts to base damages only on the value of the infringing piece.Those changes would create uncertainty about the validity of patents and drive venture capital money away from innovative companies, said Joe Kiani, CEO of Masimo, a medical equipment vendor in Irvine, Calif.Combined with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, including one limiting the use of injunctions by plaintiffs in patent infringement lawsuits, the Patent Reform Act would significantly decrease the value of many patents, argued Kiani and other participants in an Innovation Alliance forum.The bill &quot;opens the way for other countries like China to bring technology here that will be a fraction of the cost and will be copies of our technology,&quot; Kiani said.Panelists at the Innovation Alliance forum said they&#39;d support patent reform that gives more money to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), allowing examiners to better research patent applications. &quot;We support prudent patent reform,&quot; said Sean Murdock, executive director of the NanoBusiness Alliance, a trade group representing nanotech companies. &quot;Simply stated, the current bill, in its current form, is not prudent.&quot;But members of the Coalition for Patent Reform, in a press briefing a couple of hours later, said Congress needs to fix problems with &quot;patent speculators&quot; suing established companies. The Supreme Court rulings and more money for the USPTO aren&#39;t enough, said Tim Crean, chief intellectual property officer for SAP.In the past two years, the Supreme Court has ruled on several patent issues, including a case involving eBay. In May 2006, the court overturned a long-term U.S. court practice of issuing injunctions against infringing products in nearly all patent cases.Despite the Supreme Court rulings, the number of patent lawsuits continues to grow, said Crean and Michael Holston, general counsel for HP. This year is shaping up to be a record year for patent lawsuits, Holston said.The coalition found about 625 patent lawsuits in 20 selected U.S. district courts in 1990. Through Sept. 30, the same 20 courts have seen about 1,550 patent lawsuits in 2007, the coalition said.HP will spend about $75 million defending against patent lawsuits this year, Holston said. More than half of those lawsuits come from patent &quot;speculators&quot; -- companies that buy patents for the purpose of filing lawsuits, he added.The patent system is &quot;being exploited through litigation games,&quot; added Mark Chandler, general counsel for Cisco.
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Senator Jim Webb asked federal  authorities on Wednesday to look into &quot;national security  implications&quot; he said are posed by Chinese government  involvement with Blackstone Group LP  as it moves toward  a stock offering expected to raise more than $4 billion.
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Partners of private equity firm  Blackstone Group may have devised a way to avoid paying tax on  $3.7 billion raised largely in the firm&#39;s initial public  offering last month, the New York Times reported on Friday.
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Group demonstrates possible solutions, but lawmakers also need to act.
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Blackstone Group's  initial public offering is seeing heavy demand from investors vying for shares of the biggest U.S. IPO in five years, which is expected to price on Thursday.
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Blackstone Group LP priced its initial public offering at the top end of the range on Thursday, even as lawmakers pushed for its delay, raising $4.13 billion in the largest U.S. IPO in five years.
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The government is to review the way the UK tax system treats firms involved in private equity deals.
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Supporters of a major rewrite of corporate tax law are optimistic they will be able to complete congressional action this week on legislation needed
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Partners of private equity firm Blackstone Group  may have devised a way to avoid paying tax on $3.7 billion raised largely in the firm's initial public offering last month, according to a regulatory filing.
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Senators turned their attention Sunday to a wide-ranging $136 billion corporate tax bill as lawmakers whittle down their workload before leaving town for the elections.
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Units of Blackstone Group LP  fell nearly 8 percent on Monday due in part to concerns about the private equity firm's lofty valuation following its highly publicized market debut last week.
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As Congress debates taxes on hedge funds and private equity firms, Blackstone has devised a way for its partners to avoid paying taxes on $3.7 billion.
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Private-equity and hedge funds may soon face the taxman.
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At two tech-focused gatherings yesterday, industry companies, lobbying groups and politicians mulled over the IT industry's legislative agenda, including concerns about a move to force companies to expense stock options.
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Blackstone Group's business of buying and selling huge companies is all about making billion-dollar bets. And today, the private-equity giant is taking its biggest roll of the dice yet. In the face of a looming fight with Congress, labor union protests and other hype, the first shares of Blackstone...
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Blackstone Group's initial public offering is seeing heavy demand from investors vying for shares of the biggest U.S. IPO in five years, which is expected to price on Thursday.