Thompson & McCarty, P.C. CPA

Recent court rulings could pave the way for hundreds of lawsuits -- and potentially massive awards -- against major companies over expired patents.

Japan's government, grasping for ways to rev up a deflating economy on the cheap, is extending a subsidy plan for consumers who trade in their old appliances and television sets for more energy-efficient models.

Pennsylvania's capital of Harrisburg will skip a $3.29 million payment on its general-obligation debt, raising concerns it could be the first of a wave of municipal defaults.

The bank is selling its mortgage on the Viceroy Anguilla to Starwood Capital Group at a hefty discount, the latest example of capitulation by a bank that has nursed a troubled real-estate project for years.

The Commerce Department found that the Chinese government unfairly subsidized $514 million of aluminum exports to the U.S. last year. But the U.S. said it wouldn't investigate allegations that China's currency policies function as export subsidies for Chinese manufacturers of aluminum and coated paper.

Four insiders at Exelixis Inc. bought more than $1 million in company stock in August in the first insider purchases in almost two years.

Studies of two experimental drugs provided fuel for a race to develop medicines to replace blood thinner warfarin, a global market that could eventually exceed $20 billion a year in revenue.

Currency trading volume around the world has hit $4 trillion a day, fueled by investors in the wealthiest nations looking to diversify beyond their home markets in a time of economic turmoil.

In H-P's and Dell's bidding war for storage maker 3PAR, some of the key decisions are being made by two executives named Dave seeking to make their marks at the companies.

Sprint's board is debating whether to let rival cellphone operator T-Mobile USA invest in Clearwire, as the carrier decides how to fund its 4G network expansion.

Hedge-fund manager Elliott Management dropped its court case against trade publication Absolute Return + Alpha, bringing to a close a battle over public disclosure of a hedge fund's investments.

The SEC said it wouldn't sue Moody's Investors Service despite allegations that it had broken securities laws.

Exelon is expected to hire waste-disposal contractor EnergySolutions to demolish an Illinois nuclear-power plant under a contract expected to provide a template for dismantling aging plants.

H-P and Hynix Semiconductor agreed to commercialize a novel building block for computer memory chips and the products that use them.

Amazon.com is trying to create a service that gives paying subscribers unlimited access over the Internet to some television shows and movies, as it tries to take on Netflix and Apple.

Ray Irani, the long-serving and highly compensated chief executive of Occidental Petroleum, is expected to set a date to step down from the company's top job amid an investor backlash over his pay.

J.P. Morgan Chase is winding down its proprietary-trading operations and has given notice to its roughly 20 proprietary-commodities traders about the elimination of their jobs.

Samsung has had some success with the global launch of its Android-powered Galaxy S smartphone, but the company doesn't have another flagship phone planned for the crucial holiday season.

Visteon won confirmation of its Chapter 11 reorganization plan Tuesday after a bankruptcy turnaround that inspired bondholders to inject more than $1.25 billion into the auto-parts maker.

The price tag of KT's new seven-inch device will be about half that of its competitors, raising speculation that the device will try to compete with Samsung's planned Galaxy Tab.