Sterling

March 29, 2007 | Law.com

The Dutch government put a freeze on "copyright levies" on devices such as hard drives and mp3 players until at least 2009, a move likely to please consumer rights groups and dismay copyright holders. Copyright levies, used in much of Europe, are a tax on any "blank" medium that can be used for recording because people who buy such devices often use them to make copies of copyrighted works. Consumer rights groups argue that a person with an mp3 player may be paying tax on the same song several times.

By Toby Sterling

3 minute read

May 16, 2007 | Law.com

Bank of America Corp. filed an appeal to the Dutch Supreme Court on Tuesday over a ruling this month that froze the company's $21 billion purchase of LaSalle Bank from ABN Amro. Control of Chicago-based LaSalle Bank Corp. has become the key battle in the larger fight to acquire ABN Amro in what would be the largest takeover in the history of the financial industry. The BofA appeal argues that U.S. law, not Dutch law, should govern LaSalle's sale, since the sale contract was drafted in the U.S.

By Toby Sterling

4 minute read

June 23, 2011 | Legaltech News

By Toby Sterling

5 minute read

May 07, 2007 | Law.com

ABN Amro NV, the Dutch bank at the center of a $100 billion takeover fight, has no plans to fire Chief Executive Rijkman Groenink, the company said Friday, though his recent decisions have been called into question from all sides. Shareholders slammed Groenink's decision to back Barclays' takeover offer despite a higher offer from another group. Bank of America filed a suit against ABN in federal court Friday based on a Dutch court decision to block Groenink's sale of LaSalle Bank to Bank of America.

By Toby Sterling

5 minute read

August 09, 2010 | The Legal Intelligencer

Naomi Campbell told Mia Farrow that she received a "huge diamond" from the former president of Liberia, the actress said from the witness stand Monday, contradicting the model's testimony that she didn't know the value of the gift from accused war criminal Charles Taylor.

By Toby Sterling

4 minute read

July 11, 2007 | Law.com

The Dutch Supreme Court is expected to make a key ruling Friday in the fight between Barclays and a consortium of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland to buy ABN Amro. The ruling will determine whether Amsterdam's Superior Court erred when it blocked ABN's sale of LaSalle Bank. If the Supreme Court upholds the decision the legal fight could carry across the Atlantic. Should the Dutch court reverse -- which is seen as more likely -- RBS may give up on LaSalle and make a lower offer for what remains of ABN.

By Toby Sterling

3 minute read

November 29, 2005 | Law.com

Royal Ahold NV, which owns the Stop & Shop and Giant supermarket chains in the United States along with other retail operations worldwide, said Monday it has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit brought by U.S. shareholders after its 2003 accounting scandal. Ahold's top lawyer said it was a coincidence that the amount of the settlement paralleled that of the scandal, in which Ahold overstated earnings by more than 1 billion euros in 1999-2002.

By Toby Sterling

4 minute read

July 23, 2004 | Law.com

Courts worldwide have held that an odor itself is something that belongs to nature and is not copyrightable. But in a recent decision, a Dutch court said Lancome's Tresor perfume was a distinct combination of ingredients "concrete and stable enough to be considered an 'authored work.'" Lawyers for Lancome called the ruling revolutionary, but some experts say it's a mistake that could have grave consequences beyond the cosmetics industry.

By Toby Sterling

5 minute read

November 29, 2005 | Corporate Counsel

Royal Ahold NV, which owns the Stop & Shop and Giant supermarket chains in the United States along with other retail operations worldwide, said Monday it has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit brought by U.S. shareholders after its 2003 accounting scandal. Ahold's top lawyer said it was a coincidence that the amount of the settlement paralleled that of the scandal, in which Ahold overstated earnings by more than 1 billion euros in 1999-2002.

By Toby Sterling

4 minute read

August 31, 2005 | Law.com

Locusts, cholera and inequitable conduct have something in common: All have been described as plagues. In 1988, the Federal Circuit characterized the abundance of inequitable conduct charges as "an absolute plague." The plague continues. Inequitable conduct findings have been rising over the past few years -- in 2003-2004, a whopping 30 patents were held unenforceable -- and there's no end in sight.

By Andrea Kamage and Deborah Sterling

7 minute read