| Qualcomm and Nokia: lowering expectations on a swift resolution
The public posturing by Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. remains consistent in the hours after their cross-licensing agreement expired after midnight last night, while both parties appear to suggest they will be patient in their attempts to reach a new agreement.
Both sides appear ready for a lengthy period of continued negotiation, while investors and wireless industry players interest in the parties next moves is certainly at a peak. Will the two parties refrain from further legal challenges to give negotiators room to breathe? Or will legal challenges actually increase to ratchet up pressure on the other side? Will a third partysuch as the American Arbitration Association, requested by Qualcommstep in?
A Nokia spokeswoman reassured consumers today that the expiration of a cross-licensing agreement governing intellectual property rights between the two parties would not affect them.
Hometrack and Trigold launch AVM integration
Hometrack and Trigold have revealed that brokers will be able to access instant property valuations directly from the sourcing system. This deal means that advisors can access an accurate value of the property in order to make a more accurate and assured product recommendation. With a Hometrack value check and full valuation, intermediaries will obtain the unbiased house valuation report in seconds. From that, they can use the data within the Trigold system to source a more precise product. Bill Safran, chief executive of Trigold, says: Mortgage advice is often said to be fundamentally about people and property. Client meetings and the use of credit reference agencies uncover the profile of the customer, but an accurate valuation of the property has been unobtainable at the onset of the sales process.
Calamitous fissures
The constitutional crisis in Ukraine threatens the country's sovereignty, economic well-being, and American and Western geopolitical and business interests there. Tragically, Ukraine is amidst a tug-of-war between a truculent prime minister and an inept president, and between the divided executive, a chaotic and corrupt legislative and an unprofessional (and possibly corrupt) judiciary.
The Constitutional Court in Kiev on Tuesday began deliberations on the legality of President Victor Yushchenko's decision to disband the Rada (Parliament) and call for new elections. With a poorly written constitution and alleged bribery and blackmail of the Constitutional Court judges by Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych's supporters, the outlook is grim for a long-term and sustainable crisis resolution.
Petrobangla sues Chevron for violating PSC, GPSA
The state-owned gas entity Petrobangla has sued the US oil giant Chevron Corporation for violating the provisions of the production-sharing contract (PSC) and the gas purchase and sales agreement (GPSA) signed between the parties.
In the case lodged with the Second Assistant Judge Court in the capital Wednesday, the Petrobangla has accused Chevron of breaching the agreements of the PSC and the GPSA through filing an arbitration suit with the international arbitration center for settlement of a dispute over the wheeling charges of gas produced from Jalalabad gas field, a senior Petrobangla official told the FE Thursday.
Chevron did not opt for settling the dispute in line with provisions of the PSC and the GPSA, the Petrobangla accused.
Chevron, in April 2006, lodged an arbitration suit with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, an institution of the World Bank group, demanding payment of four percent of the gas sales from Jalalabad as wheeling charge over the years.
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