The World Trade Organization has entered an interim verdict against an EU effort to prevent food manufacturers from using European regional names – such as Champagne and Parma – to market copycat versions of more than 600 wines, cheeses, meats, and other food products that originated in Europe. Unlike trademarks, EU designations indefinitely protect food [...]

Young v. Bryco Arms et al., Illinois Supreme Court, November 18, 2004 . Excerpt: In sum, we hold that plaintiffs' public nuisance claims against both the manufacturer and the dealer defendants must be dismissed. Even granting, arguendo, that plaintiffs can establish that a public right has been infringed upon by defendants' conduct, their allegations of [...]

In Thursday's corporations and securities law news, Enron Corp. has closed the $2 billion sale of its interest in three natural gas pipelines to CCE Holdings LLC, a joint venture of Southern Union Co. and GE Commercial Finance Energy Financial Services. The sale was approved in September by US Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzales. Read the [...]

Russian authorities Thursday arrested a manager at a key subsidiary of Yukos on charges of embezzling $766,000 which was disguised as charitable contributions. Also today, the Prosecutor General's office announced the issuance of an international arrest warrant for Yukos lawyer Nikolai Gololobov on charges of misappropriating billions of rubles worth of shares in 1998. These [...]

The Bush administration is planning an overhaul of the tax code with an eye toward drastically cutting or even eliminating outright taxes on savings and investment, according to Thursday's Washington Post. The plans are unlikely to include a flat tax or a national sales tax which were raised as possibilities during the presidential campaign. A [...]

AP is reporting that according to Republican Party sources, Senator Arlen Specter is drafting a written pledge that as the new head of the Senate Judiciary Committee he would provide timely hearings and quick votes for Bush judicial nominees.

The Illinois Supreme Court Thursday unanimously dismissed two lawsuits which accused gunmakers of knowingly allowing their weapons to fall into criminal hands. The two Illinois lawsuits, filed by the city of Chicago and victims of gun violence, had accused Smith & Wesson, Beretta USA Corp., Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc., and other gunmakers and suburban [...]

A Providence television reporter, Jim Taricani of NBC'sw WJAR-TV, was convicted of criminal contempt Thursday for refusing to reveal a source who gave him an FBI videotape showing a city official taking a bribe. Taricani, who faces up to six months in prison, broke no laws by repeatedly airing the tape, but a special prosecutor [...]

Myanmar's military government announced Thursday that it will release almost 4000 prisoners who may have been wrongly imprisoned by the recently disbanded National Intelligence Bureau. State radio said Thursday that the prisoners would be released after a conclusion was made "that the National Intelligence Bureau may have used irregular and improper means to put them [...]

Weighing in on the debate over changes to the federal sentencing guidelines, the Justice Department has suggested that minimum sentences should remain the same but that judges should be given the flexibility to give longer sentences, up the maximum as defined by Congress. The US Sentencing Commission held two days of public hearings this week [...]