Battle over nation's patent laws
Leading industries are battling over the nation's patent laws with the potential to shape the economy powerfully for a generation or more. Both the House and the Senate are working on legislation that would substantially reduce penalties for businesses accused of hijacking the ideas and inventions of competitors. Critics of the legislation say the bills substantially undermine protections traditionally afforded inventors - and could pose a powerful disincentive for investors to risk their capital on untried ideas. The legislative debate pits traditional manufacturers such as pharmaceutical-makers and chemical and aerospace companies against software firms that rely less heavily on patent protections. See:
Leading industries are battling over the nation's patent laws with the potential to shape the economy powerfully for a generation or more. Both the House and the Senate are working on legislation that would substantially reduce penalties for businesses accused of hijacking the ideas and inventions of competitors. Critics of the legislation say the bills substantially undermine protections traditionally afforded inventors - and could pose a powerful disincentive for investors to risk their capital on untried ideas. The legislative debate pits traditional manufacturers such as pharmaceutical-makers and chemical and aerospace companies against software firms that rely less heavily on patent protections. See:
GlaxoSmithKline CEO reviews his tenure
Since he took over GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. in early 2001, Jean-Pierre Garnier has shaken up the monolith, engineering earnings-per- share growth of 13 percent per year. The pipeline of soon-to-arrive drugs, which stood at fewer than a handful when he arrived, now bulges with 31 compounds nearing approval. Yet one big performance indicator - the stock price - continues to lag. The company has performed better than most of its peers, but its U.S. shares are about where they were six years ago. Garnier says his tenure has coincided with a historic cut in the value of all drug stocks. See:
Comcast's solid quarter disappoints some experts
Philadelphia's Comcast Corp., which has hired 12,000 employees around the country in the last 18 months, installed a record-setting 2.1 million cable set-top boxes in the second quarter as revenue surged 31 percent to $7.7 billion, the company reported last week. Comcast said it expected the pace of set-top-box installations to ease in the remainder of the year, but it reaffirmed its 2007 forecast. Second-quarter net income rose 28 percent, to $588 million, or 19 cents a share, from $460 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier. The solid quarter disappointed some analysts, who focused on a loss of 95,000 cable subscribers in the three months ended June 30 - 4.4 percent more than the 91,000 subscribers lost in the year-earlier period. See:
http://go.philly.com/COMCAST29
Arrow investor objects to bid from Teleflex
Seeking to make health care its largest business, Limerick's Teleflex Inc. announced an agreement to buy catheter-maker Arrow International Inc., of Reading, for $2 billion in cash. But the deal appears likely to face opposition by the Robert L. McNeil Jr. 1983 Trust, one of Arrow's largest shareholders. The trust, which owns about 10 percent of Arrow's stock, said a sale would not be the best long-term value for Arrow shareholders and has proposed an alternative slate of seven directors. Arrow's annual shareholders meeting is scheduled for Aug. 31, according to a regulatory filing. See:
Liberty Property to buy Republic to get D.C. sites
Liberty Property Trust, of Malvern, said that it would buy Republic Property Trust for $900 million in cash and debt, enabling it to enter the Washington market. Liberty, founded by Willard Rouse III and one of the nation's largest real estate investment trusts, has wanted to be in metropolitan Washington - the country's second-largest office market, after New York - for some time. The acquisition of Republic, of Herndon, Va., will give it 13 properties consisting of 24 office buildings totaling 2.41 million square feet. See:
http://go.philly.com/LIBERTY29
AstraZeneca to lay off additional 4,600 workers
AstraZeneca P.L.C. plans to lay off an additional 4,600 employees, trimming its payroll by 7,600, or 11 percent of its workforce, within three years. The London-based drugmaker announced in February that it would dismiss about 3,000 employees in operations and manufacturing. Last week, the company said it decided additional cuts were needed in European sales and marketing, information services and business support, and drug research and development. The company said it could not specify the number of layoffs in the Wilmington area, where AstraZeneca's U.S. headquarters employs about 5,000 people. See:
Coming tomorrow
Chester County woman builds her company around baby bibs.