Board-Ansicht
Mix-Ansicht- Die Firma Unocal hat's wirklich faustdick hinter den Ohren - Bob, 26.11.2003, 23:53
- Nichts ungewöhnliches - sehe Intel, AMD, Cyrix, VIA TECH. - Turon, 27.11.2003, 02:18
Die Firma Unocal hat's wirklich faustdick hinter den Ohren
-->N'abend allerseits,
Vor ein paar Jahren hat der Staat Kalifornien Gesetze erlassen, die die Benutzung bestimmter Kraftstoffe vorschreiben, die sauberer verbrennen als normales Benzin. Im Hintergrund wirkte dabei die Firma Unocal - zum eigenen Segen. Als nämlich das Gesetz erlassen war und alle möglichen Raffinerien anfingen, die neue Formel zu produzieren, stellte sich plötzlich heraus, daß die Firma Unocal just auf diese Kraftstoffe Patente besitzt.
US suit over Unocal gasoline patents dismissed
Wednesday November 26, 5:11 pm ET
By Peter Kaplan
WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A judge on Wednesday threw out government charges against Unocal Corp. (NYSE:UCL - News) for urging California regulators to adopt clean fuel standards on which it had applied for patents.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission had filed the antitrust suit in March, saying the company's anticompetitive tactics could cost consumers up to $500 million a year, or 5 cents per gallon of gasoline.
But U.S. Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell said a longstanding legal doctrine allows companies to petition the government for an edge over rivals -- even if the regulations they seek are anticompetitive.
Chappell also ruled the FTC did not have jurisdiction"to decide fundamental and substantial patent issues" raised in the complaint.
There was no immediate word on whether the FTC would appeal. The agency announced the ruling without comment.
Unocal spokesman Barry Lane said it appeared the decision was consistent with the law and all the motions the company had filed."We hope that this ruling is going to resolve the matter with the Federal Trade Commission," Lane said.
Unocal stock closed up 17 cents at $31.81 a share on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites).
The case reflected the FTC's increased focus under the Bush administration on competition problems that arise from government regulations and restrictions.
The FTC had charged that Unocal helped California come up with clean-fuel standards without disclosing it had already applied for patents on some of the formulas.
If regulators had known about the patents, they would have altered standards to avoid infringing them, the FTC has said.
The commission had sought an injunction that would prevent Unocal from collecting money from its patents on clean-burning fuel to meet strict California environmental standards.
Rival oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM - News), asked the FTC to probe the patent claims back in early 2001 after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling that they owed patent fees to Unocal.
Unocal has denied it misled California regulators and criticized the FTC case as a"political" move that contradicts long-standing case law.
The FTC had argued that the Noerr-Pennington legal doctrine should not protect companies that mislead regulators, and that the company's participation in a standard-setting group did not constitute"petitioning" of the government.
But Chappell disagreed. In a 70-page opinion, the judge said the government could not win its case even if its accusations were true."If the conduct complained about is genuine petitioning in the legislative context, the violations alleged in the complaint must be dismissed."
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