Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Mon, Apr 6 1992 Date: Mon, 6 Apr 92 05:43:33 EDT Message-ID: 04-06 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update April 6, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network RULE CHANGES CRITICIZED: Rule changes allowing savings an loans to open branches nationwide, announced by the Bush administration last week, have come under fire as being a politically motivated attempt to prop up weak thrifts. "This has all the earmarks of returning thrifts to the loose days of the 1980s," says House Banking Committee Chairman Henry Gonzalez, D-Texas. ASSETS RULING QUESTIONED: Economist Dan Brumbaugh is critical of the Office of Thrift Supervision's decision to let S&Ls count some intangible credit-card-related assets as core capital, their financial cushion. Letting weak S&Ls count such assets at market value without also having to recognize depressed market values on real-estate assets "is intellectually dishonest," Brumbaugh says. ANTITRUST LAW TO BE INVOKED: The Justice Department says it will use U.S. antitrust laws against Japan and other countries that lock out U.S. exports. The department went ahead with the controversial change it announced a month ago. Attorney General William Barr denies politics played any role in the change and says the policy is not directed at any one country. Japan called the policy unacceptable. RIGHT TO SUE TO BE DECIDED: The Senate Judiciary Committee, which conducted the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings, is back in the spotlight. The committee tentatively is set to vote Thursday on whether victims of sex crimes or their families should be allowed to sue the producers and purveyors of illegal obscenity and child pornography if the material can be shown to have "substantially caused" the crime. CASTROL SUES PENZOIL: Castrol Inc. said Friday it has filed suit against Pennzoil Co. in Newark, N.J., seeking an order enjoining broadcast of Pennzoil's motor oil ad campaign. Castrol is challenging claims in Penzoil's ads that its oils "outperform" the competition "against viscosity breakdown" and that Pennzoil provides better protection against engine failure and shortened engine life. PATENT OFFICE REJECTS CHARGE: The U.S. Patent Office has tossed out an anonymous charge that Olof Soderblom's patent covering the token ring protocol was based on work done by AT&T Bell Labs in the late 1960s. The Patent Office decision affirmed that Soderblom's invention preceded the work done at AT&T Bell Labs. The Patent Office also dismissed related charges by the anonymous requester. TWA PACT, DEADLINE APPROVED: A bankruptcy court judge Friday approved a new labor pact between TWA and its largest union, as well as a May 15 deadline for the airline's creditors to file monetary claims. TWA general counsel Mark Buckstein said that with the approvals the airline may be able to emerge from court protection by this summer. He said TWA will be able to file its reorganization plan by the end of May. PBGC OBJECTS TO APPROVAL: Approval by a bankruptcy court judge Friday of a labor pact for 15,000 TWA employees came over the strong objections of the federal Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp., which argued the contract would add $107.6 million in new costs over 10 years. The PBGC contends TWA's employee pension funds are underfunded by $679 million and the agency would be stuck with most of the cost if TWA should fail. OCE SEEKS PATENT RULING: Oce-Office Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Oce-van der Grinten N.V., has filed a declaratory judgment action against Eastman Kodak Co. in the U.S. District Court in Chicago. The declaratory judgment seeks to have the court confirm that an Oce copier for producing duplex copies from duplex originals does not infringe upon a Kodak patent which expires in February 1996. CLEANUP COSTS DEBATED: Analysts say it will take $500 billion to clean up the USA's hazardous waste problem. The insurance industry and manufacturers are locked in a battle over who will pay for the the cleanup, reports the National Law Journal. While the outcome is uncertain, the battle is resulting in legal fees of between $30 billion and $300 billion for insurers, actuarial firm Tillinghast estimates. Business Law Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM