Carmakers to Calif. attorney general: drop suit
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Six major automakers told new  California Attorney General Jerry Brown that their lawyers were  ready to discuss improving vehicle fuel efficiency but that he  should dismiss the state's greenhouse gas damage suit.
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California's attorney general  said on Wednesday that he would sue to block a new U.S. rule  that could limit federal funds to states that provide access to  abortions.
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California sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday for denying its first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs.
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A motorist who struck and killed a 17-year-old cyclist in northern Spain Â and then sued the boy's parents over the damage to his Audi Â has dropped the lawsuit, the family said Wednesday.
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Toyota, General Motors and seven other automakers filed suit on Tuesday to block California&#39;s new greenhouse gas regulation, which was approved by the state in its final form in September.
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FRESNO, Calif. -- Automobile manufacturers sued Tuesday to block California regulators from adopting the world&#39;s toughest vehicle-emissions standards, arguing in a lawsuit that the standards are the federal government&#39;s responsibility.
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California on Wednesday sued six   of the world's largest automakers, including General Motors   Corp. GM.N and Toyota Motor Corp. 7203.T, over global   warming, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles   have caused billions of dollars in damages.
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A legal battle is shaping up in California involving a Chinese startup that makes equipment used to produce semiconductors.Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment&#160;(AMEC), of Shanghai, was sued in California by Applied Materials, which claims the company misappropriated its trade secrets. But lawyers for the Chinese company asked the judge to dismiss the suit, arguing the U.S. court has no jurisdiction over AMEC&#39;s activities.AMEC&#39;s motion for dismissal will be heard by Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, on Feb. 11.Applied&#39;s lawsuit, filed in October and amended last month, claims AMEC used its trade secrets to develop etch and CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposit) tools that are used to make chips. AMEC&#39;s tools will compete against similar products from Applied, which cost millions of dollars each. Applied is seeking an injunction from the court to prevent the misappropriation of its trade secrets and wants punitive damages as well as a declaration that it owns patent applications recently filed by AMEC.Applied identified four former employees in the suit, including AMEC founders Gerald Yin and Aihua Chen.Applied&#39;s amended complaint describes Yin, who left Applied in 2004 to start AMEC, as a former corporate vice president and chief technology officer who &quot;managed the etch product group and had broad access to Applied confidential information and trade secrets concerning its etch tools.&quot; In addition, the complaint says Chen at one point served as general manager of Applied&#39;s CVD product group and had access to proprietary technology related to those tools.To bolster its case against AMEC, Applied noted that the former employees identified in the lawsuit signed agreements that give Applied all rights to inventions made during their employment, and prevent them from using Applied&#39;s confidential information for anyone else&#39;s benefit. Under the agreement, any patents filed by the former employees within one year of leaving Applied are &quot;presumed to have been conceived or made during their employment with Applied and would belong to Applied.&quot;As a result, Applied&#39;s complaint lays claim to two AMEC patent applications filed in China on August 5, 2005, that name Yin and other former Applied employees as inventors. These patents should belong to Applied as the patent applications were made &quot;one year and three days after Yin left applied&quot; and therefore must be based on information that Yin disclosed to AMEC during the one year period, the complaint said.AMEC subsequently filed patent claims in Japan and the U.S. based on the Chinese patent applications. Applied&#39;s complaint also claims these patent applications as its own, noting Applied filed its own patent applications covering the same technologies.In response, AMEC&#39;s motion to dismiss argues that the U.S. court has no jurisdiction over the Chinese company.&quot;In this case, there is no jurisdiction over AMEC Inc., because the allegations of the (amended complaint) relate exclusively to actions that took place in China. None of Applied&#39;s claims arises out of allegations concerning contact with California,&quot; the motion said, adding any legal action by Applied against AMEC should be heard in a Chinese court instead.
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A legal battle is shaping up in California involving a Chinese startup that makes equipment used to produce semiconductors.
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The subcontractor accused of mistreating workers at an iPod factory in China dropped its libel suit against two reporters and the news organization they work for in Shanghai.
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A federal judge in Sacramento upheld a California law regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, another in a string of legal defeats for the auto industry this year.
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The plaintiff in a long-running  trademark infringement lawsuit against Google Inc   agreed on Friday to drop its case targeting the Web search  advertising leader's core business, according to court filings.
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California filed a global warming  lawsuit on Wednesday against Ford Motor Co. , General  Motors Corp. , Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T) and three  other automakers, charging that greenhouse gases from their  vehicles have cost the state millions of dollars.
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Automaker BMW AG said Friday that it plans to cut thousands of jobs next year to reduce costs. via North County Times
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California dropped its criminal investigation of Diebold Election Systems Inc. on Tuesday, instead joining Alameda County and two electronic-voting activists in suing the Texas-based touch-screen voting machine maker.
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Lawyers for cigarette makers on  Wednesday sought to knock down the government's $280 billion  racketeering case against the industry, telling a federal judge  that they had already addressed the government's concerns by  changing the way they do business.
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California is suing the auto industry over tailpipe emissions, marking the first time a state has sought monetary damages for the impact of global warming by vehicles.