“No harm, no foul” legal concept worth preserving
By Reynolds Holding
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
The legal concept of “no harm, no foul” is worth preserving. Privacy laws and other statutes enable consumers to sue companies without claiming actual injury. That only encourages dubious claims against corporate America and upends constitutional logic. The U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance on Monday to start coming to the same conclusion.
U.S. patent law mission creep needs to be reversed
By Reynolds Holding The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
The U.S. Supreme Court has a chance to reverse the mission creep in patent law. The system is supposed to reward inventors but not stifle innovation. Fuzzy and overly broad concepts like thought processes generally aren’t protected. Yet one company, Prometheus Laboratories, reckons it owns a method for interpreting how patients react to a drug.
Thomas Jefferson, the first U.S. patent commissioner, questioned whether ideas should be owned at all. In 1840, a skeptical court limited patents to specific inventions. The Supreme Court followed suit in 1853, rejecting a claim from Samuel Morse. The justices said Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, had sought patent protection so broad that it would block discoveries he had not even thought of.
MF Global could finally help SarbOx prove itself
By Reynolds Holding
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
MF Global could finally help the Sarbanes-Oxley Act prove itself. The reform inspired by Enron, WorldCom and other accounting scandals helped clean up U.S. company books, albeit at a cost. But approaching 10 years on, enforcers have filed few cases under the law. They could finally get their big chance if questions surrounding MF Global’s failure prove to have substance.
Gupta arrest puts Corporate America on notice
By Reynolds Holding
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
The arrest of Rajat Gupta has put Corporate America on notice. U.S. prosecutors have nailed dozens of insider traders, including Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam. But those cases now look like prologue to the one against the former McKinsey boss and Goldman Sachs director. The charges against Gupta will be tough to prove, but a conviction would be the ultimate deterrent.
Sprint’s antitrust pitch hedges against DoJ miss
By Reynolds Holding
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Sprint’s antitrust pitch hedges against a swing and a miss by the U.S. Justice Department. The third-largest mobile operator has said it just wants to help the feds squelch AT&T’s $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA. But its separate lawsuit suggests a lack of confidence in Uncle Sam’s arguments. Though a court hearing on Monday showed the case faces hurdles, it may give Sprint insurance in case the government stumbles.
Closed-door justice will leave dealmakers in dark
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)
NEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Closed-door
justice may leave U.S. dealmakers in the dark. An attempt by
chipmaker Skyworks Solutions (SWKS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) to renege on its
acquisition of Advanced Analogic Technologies (AATI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) will
play out in private instead of open court under Delaware’s new
arbitration system. That may save the companies time and money.
But it deprives the M&A world — and investors — of valuable
legal guidance.
Closed-door justice will leave dealmakers in dark
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)
By Reynolds Holding
NEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Closed-door
justice may leave U.S. dealmakers in the dark. An attempt by
chipmaker Skyworks Solutions (SWKS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) to renege on its
acquisition of Advanced Analogic Technologies (AATI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) will
play out in private instead of open court under Delaware’s new
arbitration system. That may save the companies time and money.
But it deprives the M&A world — and investors — of valuable
legal guidance.
Rajaratnam sentence shows value of court process
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
By Reynolds Holding
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) – Raj Rajaratnam is going to jail for 11 years. But his lawyers’ tough defense helped the judge get it about right. The Galleon Group founder’s prison term may still seem excessive to those who think insider-trading penalties are overdone. But there was no shortcut deal, and the court process was thorough. That gives Rajaratnam’s sentence unusual credibility.
U.S. courts make death arbitrage a tougher game
By Reynolds Holding
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
A U.S. court has just made death arbitrage a tougher game. Cashing out life insurance can keep a policyholder afloat if he suddenly needs the dough. But an active secondary market tempts some to buy insurance just to sell the policy on. Delaware judges have wisely made such ghoulish bets on life expectancy easier for insurers to kill.
Next wave of patent rulings could ease tech wars
By Reynolds Holding
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Today’s costly technology patent wars in many ways can be pinned on the courts. Google, Apple, Microsoft and others are spending billions of dollars for the rights to ideas and inventions powering devices like smartphones. But what they’re actually buying is legal protection. The next wave of rulings ought to sync up the law with the real world.
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