COURTS
MGA has legal loss
MGA Entertainment Inc.’s $162.5 million victory over rival toymaker Mattel Inc. for theft of trade secrets was thrown out by a federal appeals court that said the claims shouldn’t have been allowed to go to the jury.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the trial judge’s decision to award closely held MGA $137.2 million for having to defend against Mattel’s claims that MGA’s Bratz dolls infringed Mattel’s copyrights.
It was the second time the three judges reversed the outcome of a trial in the eight-year battle between Mattel, the maker of Barbie, and MGA, which Mattel accused of stealing the idea for its Bratz dolls. In 2010, the panel reversed a trial judge’s ruling that had given Mattel almost complete ownership of MGA’s Bratz brand.
California-based MGA is the parent of Hudson-based toymaker Little Tikes Co.
ENERGY
Fracking suit in California
California was sued for allegedly failing to regulate and supervise hydraulic fracturing by oil and gas companies under the state’s underground injection control program.
The Center For Biological Diversity, a Tucson, Arizona-based environmental group, said in a complaint filed in state court in Oakland that the program requires the state to obtain detailed studies, conduct inspections and supervise testing before any subsurface injection or disposal project can begin.
EARNINGS
Southwest profits drop
Southwest Airlines Co. says fourth-quarter earnings fell by nearly half on higher spending for fuel, labor and maintenance. Revenue rose slightly as the average fare climbed almost $8 higher than a year ago.
Southwest said bookings for the first three months of 2013 look strong. It said that based on bookings and ticket prices so far, a key revenue measure should rise by 2 percent to 3 percent in January compared with the same month last year. Southwest, the nation’s fourth-biggest airline with operations at Akron-Canton Airport, said income was $78 million, or 11 cents per share. That’s down from $152 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue ticked up 1.6 percent to $4.17 billion but fell short of the $4.20 billion that analysts expected.
AT&T has loss
Dallas-based AT&T’s quarterly loss was $3.86 billion, or 68 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $6.68 billion, or $1.12 per share, a year earlier, also caused by an adjustment to pension and retiree benefit obligations.
Excluding special items, AT&T, which has Akron operations, earned 44 cents per share, 2 cents short of the average analyst estimate as polled by FactSet. Revenue was $32.6 billion, up a hair from $32.5 billion a year ago. It slightly exceeded analyst estimates of $32.2 billion. AT&T said it added 780,000 new customers on contract-based plans from October to December, its best result in three years.
ECONOMY
Indicators head up
The Conference Board said Thursday that its index of leading indicators rose 0.5 percent in December, the best showing since September. A decline in applications for unemployment benefits, gains on Wall Street and increases in applications for building permits drove the index higher in December. Five of the 10 indicators were positive in December.
Mortgage rates rise
Mortgage guarantor Freddie Mac reported the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 3.42 percent in the week ended Thursday, up from 3.38 percent and the highest since September. The average 15-year rate rose to 2.71 percent from 2.66 percent.
Compiled from staff and wire reports