Business Briefs: U.S. Supreme Court to referee fight over import sale
Published 11:06 pm Monday, April 19, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court is stepping into a legal fight over Omega’s effort to stop Costco from offering the Swiss maker’s watches for up to a third less than they cost elsewhere. The case has important implications for discount sellers like Costco and Target as well as eBay, Amazon and other companies that form an estimated $58 billion annual market for goods that are purchased abroad, then imported and resold without the permission of the manufacturer. The justices said Monday they will hear Costco’s appeal of a lower court ruling that sided with Omega in its attempt to invoke U.S. copyright law to halt the discount sales. Omega owns a U.S. copyright on the Omega Globe Design symbol that is engraved on its watches at the time they are made. The high court has previously ruled that copyright protections do not apply to goods made in the United States, sold abroad and then imported back into the country for resale. At issue in this case are items that are manufactured overseas, sold by their maker abroad and then brought to the U.S. for resale.
Wal-Mart pays CEO $19 million, but that’s a cut
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Mike Duke received compensation worth $19.2 million in fiscal 2010, according to an Associated Press calculation. That’s down 34 percent from 2009, when he got a hefty stock award in connection with his promotion to CEO. Duke, 60, became CEO on Feb. 1, 2009, the first day of the company’s fiscal 2010, succeeding Lee Scott. In fiscal 2010, he received a base salary of $1.2 million and a performance-based cash bonus of $4.8 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He received $193,808 in above-market interest. The bulk of his pay came in the form of stock valued at $12.7 million at the time it was granted. He also received other compensation worth $318,218, including $162,423 for the company’s contribution to a supplemental executive retirement plan, $85,637 for aircraft use and $45,403 for deferred compensation payments.
Facebook redoing user favorites in profiles
Facebook is revamping users’ profiles to emphasize the pages for bands, books and businesses that millions have become fans of on the world’s largest online social network. Now, users can list their activities, interests, favorite music and TV shows as part of their profiles. But links to Facebook “pages” for wine, your local library or the Lakers basketball team would appear in a separate section lower down. Beginning Monday, Facebook will start prompting users to essentially combine the two. So if you listed Johnny Cash in the “favorite music” section of your profile, Facebook will now ask you to join his page, if you haven’t become a fan of it already. You’ll be able to hide this connection on your profile, but your name will still be listed on the Johnny Cash page as one of the 1.2 million “people who like this” — what Facebook used to term “fans.” The same goes for users’ home towns, education and work places.
From Herald news services
