PATENTS
Apple gets block of Galaxy sales
Apple has won a court order blocking U.S. sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer as the companies continue their global patent dispute.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose issued the order late Tuesday after rejecting a similar request in December.
The world's two biggest makers of high-end phones have accused each other of copying designs and technology for mobile devices and are fighting patent battles on four continents to retain their dominance in the $219 billion global smart-phone market.
MEDIA
Netflix asks for legislative help
Netflix, the Los Gatos provider of video by mail and Internet, asked U.S. lawmakers to prevent cable providers from squelching its growth by imposing online-data consumption limits for customers.
Netflix, with 23.4 million subscribers, made the request in testimony submitted for a hearing Wednesday before the House communications and technology subcommittee in Washington.
The session was called to examine changes since the last broad revision to cable law in 1992, when few consumers used the Internet, and cable companies controlled 98 percent of the pay-television market, according to a staff memo prepared for the hearing. The 1992 law set terms for broadcasters to demand payment from cable companies for their signals.
LITIGATION
Diamond sued
Diamond Foods' board has been accused in a retirement fund's lawsuit of tarnishing the snack and nut company's reputation and causing it to misrepresent its current and future financial condition.
The Hialeah, Fla., employees' retirement system blamed the directors for Diamond's inability to file its financial statements, resulting in an "expensive and time-consuming internal investigation" at the company and derailing its planned $2.4 billion acquisition of Procter & Gamble Co.'s Pringles division in February.
San Francisco's Diamond, maker of Kettle chips and Emerald snack nuts, said this month it won't file quarterly results on time to meet an extension granted by Nasdaq.
The company announced in February that it would restate earnings for the past two years and replace its chief executive officer and chief financial officer after an internal probe.
INVESTING
Facebook value
Facebook analysts, including those at lead underwriter Morgan Stanley, say the social-network operator is worth no more than its debut price of $38.
At least 17 securities firms began coverage of the company Wednesday, bringing the average analyst share-price estimate to $37.95, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Morgan Stanley gave Facebook the equivalent of a buy rating, as did JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and five other firms. There were eight holds and one sell, the data show.
Facebook, its bankers and listing exchange Nasdaq faced criticism after the shares fell below the initial public offering price of $38.
SOFTWARE
Intuit's simple move
Intuit, the 30-year-old maker of tax and accounting software, is embarking on a customer-acquisition blitz aimed at adding $1.7 billion in sales in three years.
The Mountain View company is simplifying questionnaires on its tax-preparation software so that it demands less data up front, Chief Executive Officer Brad Smith said Tuesday. It's using plainer language to keep potential customers from dropping off before they file their returns and pay Intuit, he said.
Smith wants to increase the percentage of repeat users of products such as TurboTax or the Quicken personal-finance tool. The aim is to boost the return rate to 8 percent from 2 percent on the low end, adding as many as 5 million customers, he said.
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