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General Cigar wins Nev. trademark suit
Richmond-based General Cigar Co. Inc. won a lawsuit in Nevada aimed at protecting one of its cigar brands from trademark infringement.
General Cigar, a subsidiary of tobacco company Swedish Match, filed suit in 2006 against two companies, claiming they violated trademarks for Cohiba cigars, a premium brand which General Cigar imports from the Dominican Republic.
General Cigar said it filed the lawsuit as part of a national effort to protect the brand from counterfeiting and trademark violations.
The lawsuit against the companies -- Nevada-based Cohiba Caribbean's Finest Inc. and Bahama-based Data Commodities Ltd. -- also claimed counterfeiting, unlawful importation, unfair competition and cybersquatting.
A federal judge in Nevada issued a summary judgment in favor of General Cigar on June 30, placing a permanent injunction on the defendants and ordering them to pay damages of almost $620,000 plus legal costs.
Dividend declared
THE NATION
Former fund managers to face more charges
NEW YORK -- Federal prosecutors confirmed yesterday that they expect to bring more criminal charges against two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers already accused of lying to investors about the collapse of the subprime mortgage market.
At a hearing in Brooklyn, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Sinclair told a judge the government "is indeed contemplating additional charges" against Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin. He didn't give specifics about the potential new charges but said they likely would be filed in the fall.
Cioffi, 52, and Tannin, 46, pleaded not guilty last month to conspiracy and fraud charges -- the first criminal case to hit Wall Street amid the housing market meltdown. They have accused prosecutors of making them scapegoats for the market crisis.
The eventual implosion of the defendants' hedge funds cost investors $1.8 billion and started a domino effect that led the demise of Bear Stearns itself.
Too early to determine if oil prices have peaked
The price of oil recorded its biggest weekly drop ever, and a gallon of gas finally pulled back from its record high.
So is it time to declare the energy bubble popped?
Experts won't go that far just yet. "It's too early to say we've seen the worst of it," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service. "We would be Pollyannish if we believe one week represents a trend."
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 41 cents yesterday to settle at $128.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange -- well below its trading record of more than $147 a week earlier.
The average price of a gallon of regular gas fell about a penny for the day, to $4.10, according to auto club AAA.
In the Richmond area, regular gasoline fell 1 cent to an average of $4 per gallon yesterday, AAA Mid-Atlantic reported.
Elsewhere
THE WORLD
WTO condemns China's tax on imported parts
GENEVA -- The World Trade Organization made public its first official condemnation of Chinese commercial practices yesterday, releasing a February ruling that sided with the United States, the European Union and Canada in a dispute over car parts.
The verdict found that China was breaking trade rules by taxing imports of auto parts at the same rate as foreign-made finished cars.
-- From Staff and Wire Reports
