Corporations and securities brief ~ Nextel sued by affiliate over Sprint merger News
Corporations and securities brief ~ Nextel sued by affiliate over Sprint merger

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, communications Nextel is being sued by a distributing affiliate, Nextel Partners, that claims it was not given input into Nextel's impending merger with Sprint [corporate announcement] and wants to go to arbitration. The Washington state-based distributor had previously declared its intention to force Sprint-Nextel to purchase Nextel Partners [JURIST coverage]. In an SEC filing Wednesday, Nextel said that it had received copies of the verified petition for arbitration and that Nextel believes it has acted appropriately towards Nextel Partners. A link to Nextel Partners' verified petition is available on their website. MarketWatch has more.

In other corporations and securities news…

  • As reported earlier in JURIST's Paper Chase, the EU Wednesday soundly rejected a controversial bill to extend patent rights to software developers. In a press release, the European Parliament said that the 648 to 14 vote "means the end of the legislative procedure and the fall of the directive." The patent directive would have treated software advances the same way inventions are treated. The Legislative Observatory has a legislative history with links to the EU's official documents. BBC News has more.
  • The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that GM has won a $345 million judgment against the US government. GM brought the lawsuit to recoup losses from what it said was the government's underfunding of pensions, and the award is said to be the first of its kind. Reuters has more.
  • Hedgefund Jana Holdings [corporate website] has sued Sourcecorp [corporate website]. Jana owns 13% of Sourcecorp and is suing to have the outsourcing firm's new by-laws stricken. Jana alleges in part that the by-laws limit shareholder's control of the company and their ability to call meetings. The Dallas Business Journal has more.