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اکتبر 13, 2022

Sony, Honda aim to deliver premium EV with subscription fees in 2026

TOKYO, Oct 13 (Reuters) – A joint venture set up by Japan’s Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and Honda Motor (7267.T) is aiming to deliver its first electric vehicles by 2026 and will sell them online, starting in the United States and Japan.The new EV will also be priced at a premium, offering a new software system developed by Sony that would open the way to recurring revenue from entertainment and other services that would be billed monthly, the companies said.The update from the joint venture, Sony Honda Mobility, is the first since the two companies launched the project in June.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterKey details, including pricing, battery range and even the platform for the new vehicle have not been determined, but representatives of the new company detailed a vision for a vehicle that would function almost like a rolling smartphone.Sony will provide the software system for the new car, from the onboard controllers to cloud-based services that will connect with entertainment and payment systems.It will also provide sensors and other technology for a Level 3 autonomous drive system that will allow for drivers to pay more attention to the content and software services that will be offered.In Level 3 systems, also known as limited self-driving automation, drivers can ride without watching the road or handling the wheel on highway driving but need to be ready to take back control.Tesla (TSLA.O), General Motors(GM.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Mercedes Benz(MBGn.DE) all offer some form of hands-free driving assist systems.“As safe driving technology will continue to evolve and the amount of concentration required to drive will be reduced, we should consider new ways to enjoy and spend time in the cabin space as a whole,” said Izumi Kawanishi, the joint venture’s president and executive at Sony.Honda will decide on the platform that the new vehicle will use and details like the battery supplier. The still-to-be named EV will likely be manufactured by Honda at one of its plants in Ohio.Honda, like its bigger rival Toyota Motor (7203.T), has been slow to shift its fleet to electric. It has also struggled over the years to make gains in the luxury vehicle market with its Acura brand.Yasuhide Mizuno, the joint venture’s chairman and chief executive, and a senior Honda executive, said the project was important for Honda to develop a “longer-term relationship” with its car buyers as the vehicle shifts to become more of a connected device.Mizuno said Honda believed that 2025 would be a crucial year in the shift toward EVs in the U.S. market and that the joint-venture believed it had to hit that opening even though it means a compressed development cycle for the new EV.The new EV will be delivered to the Japanese market in the second half of 2026. The two companies are considering a launch for Europe, but no plan has been set. Orders for the new EV should open in 2025, the companies said.($1 = 146.8300 yen)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da CostaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .

سپتامبر 13, 2022

Premium bicycles win new fans among China’s city folk

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterBEIJING, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Zhou Changchang likes to spend his spare time cruising along the streets of China’s capital with his cycling club friends, on his Tiffany Blue bicycle made by the British company Brompton.The 42-year-old teacher is part of a growing army of cycling enthusiasts in China, who are splashing out on premium bicycles made by the likes of Brompton, Giant and Specialized, fuelling a market that consultancy Research & Markets estimates could be worth $16.5 billion by 2026.Social media and e-commerce platforms say there has been a surge of interest in cycling over the past year and sales of bicycles and gear are booming.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterTypically, Chinese cyclists will pay more than 13,000 yuan ($1,870) for an inner-city, high-end foldable bike made by the likes of Brompton. High-performance road bikes, made for longer journeys, start at around 10,000 yuan ($1,450) and can go many times higher.Last month, media reported that a bicycle made by luxury brand Hermes sold for 165,000 yuan ($24,500).”The majority of riding hobbyists are willing to splurge,” e-commerce platform JD.com said last month.It said road bike sales on its platform had more than doubled from June to August compared with the same time last year, while riding apparel sales had jumped 160%.China has had a long love affair with bicycles and was once known as the “kingdom of bicycles”.For decades, bikes made by the likes of the Flying Pigeon company filled the streets.Cycling fell out of fashion when a growing middle class turned to cars but bike manufacturers saw a revival in 2014 as bike-sharing companies like Mobike and Ofo sprang up to flood cities with their fleets, offering rides as cheap as 1 yuan.Zhou, like many cyclists, said he got into biking to get fit. COVID-19 and its lockdowns also created a urge for the open road.”I really longed for the outdoors and fresh air,” said Shanghai office worker Lily Lu who went out and ordered a Brompton bike for 13,600 yuan ($1,965) the day after she was released from a three-month lockdown.As the craze gathers pace, manufacturers are struggling to meet demand. Lu said she had to wait two months to get her bicycle. Brompton did not respond to a request for comment.China’s Pardus, which makes racing bikes that can cost more than 30,000 yuan ($4,335), said sales doubled from last year and its factory was operating around the clock.”Everything is out of stock,” said Pardus branding director Li Weihai.
($1=6.96 yuan)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .

سپتامبر 9, 2022

U.S. says Russia price cap should take risk premium out of oil market

Liberia-flagged Aframax tanker Suvorovsky Prospect discharges fuel oil from Russia at the Matanzas terminal, in Matanzas, Cuba, July 16, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterSINGAPORE/WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) – The price cap that G7 countries want to impose on Russian oil to punish Moscow should be set at a fair market value minus any risk premium resulting from its invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. Treasury Department official told reporters on Friday.The price should be set above the marginal production cost of Russia’s oil and take into consideration historical prices, said Elizabeth Rosenberg, U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes.The G7 price cap plan agreed last week calls for participating countries to deny insurance, finance, brokering and other services to oil cargoes priced above a yet to be set price cap on crude and two oil products. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterRosenberg said services providers would not have to police price cap compliance themselves but could rely on the attestations of buyers and sellers, leaving enforcement to participating jurisdictions.She said the G7 countries – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – would work together in coming weeks to determine the capped price and other key implementation details.”There are several key data points we are considering and how the prices should ultimately be set and that includes the marginal cost of production for Russian oil,” Rosenberg told a briefing call held for media in Asia.”The price cap price should be … in line or consistent with historical prices accepted by the Russian market.”That could imply a potential cap of around $60 a barrel, experts say, as Russian Urals crude, based off of benchmark Brent, sold for $50 to $70 a barrel in 2019.Russian government documents have identified a marginal crude production cost of $44 per barrel, although some Western officials believe it may be somewhat lower.A European official said G7 members had not begun formal discussions about the price cap, although officials had “notions” about what was possible.”The idea is that you still incentivize Russian oil producers to export by guaranteeing a price in line with their cost of production with a small incentive,” the official said.U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other Biden administration officials have been travelling to oil consuming countries to promote a mechanism that seeks to cut Russia’s oil export revenues, the lifeblood of its war machine, without reducing volumes of Russian shipments to global markets.Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia would halt shipments to countries that impose the price cap. read more Putin says Russia is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine to protect his country’s security against expansion of the Western military alliance NATO. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, and David Lawder, Timothy Gardner and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Writing by Timothy Gardner and David Lawder; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .

سپتامبر 9, 2022

Apple asks appeals court to overturn $502 mln verdict in VPN patent case

The Apple logo is seen at an Apple Store in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. October 23, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
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Summary
Companies
Law firms

Judge says Apple brought damages argument too late in VirnetX case
Apple could still win if PTO patent-validity ruling stands

(Reuters) – A long-running dispute between Apple Inc and patent licensing company VirnetX Inc over privacy-software technology went back to a U.S. appeals court on Thursday for a panel of judges to hear Apple’s new challenges to a $502 million jury loss in Texas.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard Apple’s request to toss the jury verdict, as well as VirnetX’s appeal of a U.S. Patent Office tribunal decision to cancel its virtual private network (VPN) patents that also would negate the award if it stands.The 12-year fight has included five trials and three trips to the appeals court.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister“I’m pretty sure this dispute will never end between these two companies,” Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore said during Thursday oral arguments.VirnetX sued Apple in 2010, alleging that VPN technology in Apple’s iPhones, iPads and computers infringed its patents. After several trials and appeals, a jury awarded VirnetX $502 million in damages in 2020.Apple’s attorney Bill Lee of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr argued Thursday that the verdict should be thrown out because the jury’s royalty rate was based on flawed calculations by VirnetX’s damages expert.Lee said there was no evidence that any Apple customers used VirnetX’s patented technology, which is “disabled by default” in Apple’s software, and that the calculation failed to take this into account.But Moore said Apple brought the argument too late, even though it was “very simple and persuasive.””That argument was sitting there to be made as part of your last appeal, and you didn’t make it,” Moore said.Both Lee and VirnetX’s attorney Jeff Lamken of MoloLamken acknowledged that Apple would win the case if Patent Trial and Appeal Board rulings invalidating VirnetX’s patents are upheld. VirnetX asked the Federal Circuit to overturn the PTAB decisions in a separate oral argument Thursday.VirnetX attorney Stephen Kinnaird of Paul Hastings argued that the board misinterpreted the patents.Moore sat on the panels in both cases with Circuit Judges Leonard Stark and Todd Hughes.VirnetX separately won $440 million from Apple on allegations that the tech giant used its internet-security technology in features like FaceTime video calls, which Apple said it has paid.The appeals are VirnetX Inc v. Apple Inc, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 21-1672 and VirnetX Inc v Mangrove Partners Master Fund Ltd, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 20-2271.For Apple: Bill Lee of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and DorrFor VirnetX: Jeff Lamken of MoloLamken; Stephen Kinnaird of Paul HastingsRead more:Apple fails to overturn VirnetX patent verdict, could owe over $1.1 billionVirnetX patent win against Apple vacated by U.S. appeals courtRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.Blake BrittainThomson ReutersBlake Brittain reports on intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. Reach him at [email protected] .

آگوست 16, 2022

Juicy Couture owner scoops up UK’s Ted Baker for about $254 mln

The Ted Baker logo is seen at their store at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York, U.S., February 15, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister

Offer price of 110 pence per Ted Baker share
Offer backed by Ted Baker board

Aug 16 (Reuters) – Juicy Couture and Forever 21 owner Authentic Brands (ABG) (AUTH.N) has agreed to buy Ted Baker (TED.L) in a deal worth roughly 211 million pounds ($254 million), ending months of speculation over the fate of the British fashion group.Pandemic-related losses forced Ted Baker to put itself up for sale in April and the company picked a preferred suitor the following month. However, the bidder – reported to have been ABG – in June decided not to make an offer, forcing Ted Baker to consider other options. read more Ted Baker has now reached an agreement with U.S.-based ABG, whose brands also include Reebok, consisting of 110 pence cash for each Ted Baker share, and which represents a premium of about 18.2% to Monday’s closing price.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterThe companies said the deal would not be revised unless a rival suitor emerges.”ABG believes there are significant growth opportunities for the Ted Baker brand in North America given (its) … strong consumer recognition in this market,” the New York-listed company said in a statement on Tuesday.Known for its suits, shirts and dresses with quirky details, Ted Baker is in the midst of a turnaround plan and is looking to benefit from a rebound in demand for office and leisure wear.In May it posted a smaller annual loss of 38.4 million pounds and said sales in the first quarter of the current year had risen 20% year-on-year. read more Ted Baker had also rejected several bids from private-equity group Sycamore before launching its sale process, and Tuesday’s move is the latest in a flurry of deals for British companies, made more affordable to overseas buyers by the weakness of the pound.Ted Baker’s shares were up about 17% at 108p in early trading, just shy of the offer price and still well short of their peak in 2015 when they were trading at 2,972p apiece.($1 = 0.8299 pounds)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .