Wednesday, May 20, 2009VIZIO Sues CompetitorIrvine-based HDTV maker VIZIO has sued Japanese competitor Funai Electric Company, Ltd. saying late Wednesday that it has filed a patent infringement suite against the firm. VIZIO said it is seeking to keep Funai, which manufactures HDTVs for Philips, Magnavox, Emerson, Sylvania, and Symphonic, from importing and selling high definition televisions. VIZIO also said it is seeking awards of damages for "millions" of past infringing sales. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court f (More info...)
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Asylum Research Expands In UKSanta Barbara-based Asylum Research, a manufacturer of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning probe microscopy (SPM) equipment, said this week that it has expanded its offices in the United Kingdom. The firm said that its wholly owned UK subsidiary--which has had offices in the UK for three years--has moved to a larger office space in Bicester, Oxfordshire. Asylum's scientific equipment is used by the material science, nanotechnology, chemistry, biology, and other industries.
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ValueClick, Specific Media Rise In Ad Network RankingsTwo local online advertising businesses--Westlake Village-based ValueClick, and Irvine-based Specific Media--are showing growth in the latest comScore ranking of advertising networks. According to comScore, which analyzes Internet traffic and e-commerce statistics, ValueClick is now number five, and Specific Media number six, in the top online ad networks--just behind Platform-A, Yahoo, and Google. comScore said that ValueClick grew 14 percent year to year in total unique visitors, to 160,307,00 (More info...)
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Victory Pharma Acquired By Sciele PharmaSan Diego-based specialty pharmaceuticals firm Victory Pharma has been acquired by Atlanta-based Sciele Pharma, Sciele said this week. According to Schiele, it will pay $150M to acquire Victory Pharma, which is focused on acquiring, developing, and marketing products to treat pain. Victory Pharma has 182 employees, and had net sales of $57M in 2008, Sciele said. Victory's lead product is NAPRELAN, a sustained release formulation of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) naproxen sodium. Vi (More info...)
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Loop'd Network Gains $800KSan Diego-based Loop'd Network, an online site focused on action sports, announced this morning that it has raised $800,000 in additional funding. According to Loop'd, the funding came from its existing investors, along with new investor the Tech Coast Angels. Loop'd said the funding will go towards developing its e-commerce infrastructure. Loopd operates online, action sports focused web sites which help athletes connect with brands and find sponsors.
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OCTANe Finds New President and CEOOrange County's nonprofit effort to support the technology industry, OCTANe, announced this morning that it has located a replacement for outgoing president and CEO, Gary Augusta. According to OCTANe, it has named Matthew Jenusaitis as the next president and CEO of the group. Jenusaitis was most recently at ConcepTx, a medical firm developing new technologies and companies. Jenusaitis also has served at ev3 Neurovascular, Boston Scientific Corp., and Baxter Healthcare. OCTANe's Augusta said in J (More info...)
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Panache In Win With PBSLos Angeles-based Panache, a provider of Internet advertising technology, announced today that PBS is integrating Panache's platform into its video management system. According to Panache, the move will allow PBS producers to place interactive game elements within any video content on the PBS KIDS GO! site. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Panache said that the use of its technology will allow games to run directly into the pBS KIDS GO! video player, which is used by PBS to show vi (More info...)
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San Diego Gas and Electric Partners With Google PowerMeterSan Diego Gas & Electric is one of the first utilities to sign up with Google and its new Google PowerMeter energy monitoring project, Google said this morning. Google, which is in the midst of creating widgets for allowing consumers to see and monitor their power consumption, said that SDG&E is one of eight initial utility partners launching with the Internet giant. The partnership will allow San Diego Gas & Electric customers with smart meters to access that smart meter information via Google (More info...)
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WD Sells FactoryLake Forest-based disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. reported today that it has agreed to sell the assets of its media substrate manufacturing facility in Sarawak, Malaysia to Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. According to WD, the sale is part of an effort by the firm to "realign its cost structure" to match softer demand for its products. WD's Sarawak, Malaysia facility manufactured aluminum substrates for magnetic media, and was originally part of Komag, which was acquired by WD in Sept (More info...)
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Epicor Signs Customer In ColumbiaIrvine-based Epicor Software, a developer of ERP and other business software, disclosed Tuesday that it has signed on South American firm American Glass Products (AGP) Columbia. Financial impact of the sale was not disclosed. Epicor said the AGP will use its enterprise resource planning products.
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