A U.S. judge issued a preliminary injunction barring Protron Digital from using the “Protron” brand on products and distribution materials, declaring it creates a “likelihood of confusion” in consumers and a “presumption of irreparable harm” to Proton, the company said Mon. U.S. Dist. Judge Gary Klausner, L.A., ruled that Protron improperly used the brand name and noted Proton has fielded complaints from consumers who have confused Protron TVs for Proton models. Other buyers have come to Proton for service on Protron TVs, Klausner said. Retail ads have mislabeled Protron DVD players as Proton, he said. The injunction was granted pending issuance of a bond whose amount wasn’t available at our deadline. In Jan., Proton sued Protron for trademark infringement after a holiday season that saw Protron LCD TVs appear at some national retailers, including Sears. Since then, Protron Digital signed an agreement to merge with Digital Lifestyles Group (CED Feb 7 p6), capping discussions that began last Sept. Protron officials weren’t immediately available for comment.
Insight Communications had strong earnings in Q1, Pres. Dinni Jain said in a conference call with investors Fri. “We have never had a quarter like this,” Jain said, providing preliminary results. Insight will report Q1 earnings May 8. The numbers mark a turnaround for Insight, which claims more than 1.3 million subscribers in the Midwest, executives said. Insight, which operates cable systems in a joint venture with Comcast, achieved the turnaround by focusing on high-speed Internet and service bundles, Jain said. Insight doesn’t plan to bring a network PVR to market until results of Cablevision tests of the product are clear, he said. Insight has laid much of the groundwork for VoIP, and is planning to roll out the service 2nd half, Jain said. Boosting Insight’s marketing budget has fueled subscriber growth, Jain said: “We were very much underspending our brethren in the cable industry on sales and marketing. We made the decision to… dial up the sales and marketing staff.” Analysts suggested reduced marketing from DirecTV and EchoStar may have helped Insight’s gains, but Jain said that is hard to gauge: “It doesn’t feel like the satellite companies have pulled back from marketing. They're still putting a lot of money into print and TV.” This year, Comcast and the Carlyle Group, Insight’s majority owner, are allowed to trigger dissolution of the partnership, essentially splitting Insight’s debt and assets between the 2 companies, analysts on the call noted. There has not been any movement toward dissolution, said Jain, and even if something occurred today, the company couldn’t be wound up before late 2007.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) announced that it is initiating a changed circumstances review of the antidumping (AD) duty order on certain softwood lumber products from Canada at the request of Ivis Partners Ltd. (IVIS).
Strong high-speed Internet sales and service bundles propelled Insight Communications to strong earnings in Q1, Pres. Dinni Jain said in a conference call with investors Fri. “We have never had a quarter like this,” Jain said, providing preliminary results. Insight will report Q1 earnings May 8. The numbers mark a turnaround for Insight, which claims more than 1.3 million subscribers in the Midwest, executives said. Insight operates cable systems in a joint venture with Comcast. Insight has laid much of the groundwork for VoIP, and is planning to roll out the service 2nd half, Jain said.
New Products: Take-Two Interactive didn’t respond to a request for comment by our deadline about why it decided to shift the launch of its PS2 version of its PSP game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories to June 6 in N. America and June 9 in Europe. Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter said in a research note that the publisher “originally planned to release the game during the April quarter.” The game was originally expected to sell for $29.99 in the U.S. but Take-Two said the price will be $19.99 instead -- likely as a reaction to slow sales of games for current-generation systems… Infinium Labs said it signed a deal with Itron Technology to manufacture the upcoming Phantom Lapboard keyboard/mouse peripheral for enhanced game playing on PCs. The terms weren’t disclosed… The PS2 version of The Godfather from Electronic Arts (EA) was again the #1-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended April 16… Tomb Raider: Legend from Eidos was again the #1- selling game in the U.K., according to Chart Track data for the week ended April 15. The only new game in the top 10 was EA’s Battlefield 2: Modern Combat at #10… EA’s The Sims 2 Open For Business Expansion Pack became the top-selling PC game in the U.S. its first month, according to NPD data for March. LucasArts Entertainment’s Star Wars: Empire at War - - Feb.’s #1 title -- slipped to #3.
Movie Gallery said it signed a management deal with Hilco Real Estate to restructure leases for more than 1,100 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores. Terms weren’t disclosed. Movie Gallery said the deal doesn’t include the previously announced locations marked for subleasing and downsizing. The video rental chain said it won’t publish the list of stores included in the Hilco deal. Keith Cousins, Movie Gallery’s exec. vp and chief development officer, said the Hilco program is part of his company’s “ongoing initiative to restructure approximately 70% of the company’s real estate portfolio” to boost operating results and “enhance shareholder value.” Separately, Movie Gallery said that based on preliminary first-quarter results, it expects to be in full compliance with the financial covenants in its senior credit facility for the reporting period ended April 2. The company plans to announce final results for the quarter by May 12.
New Products: Take-Two Interactive didn’t respond to a request for comment by our deadline about why it decided to shift the launch of its PS2 version of its PSP game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories to June 6 in N. America and June 9 in Europe. Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter said in a research note that the publisher “originally planned to release the game during the April quarter.” The game was originally expected to sell for $29.99 in the U.S. but Take-Two said the price will be $19.99 instead -- likely as a reaction to slow sales of games for current-generation systems… Infinium Labs said it signed a deal with Itron Technology to manufacture the upcoming Phantom Lapboard keyboard/mouse peripheral for enhanced game playing on PCs. The terms weren’t disclosed… The PS2 version of The Godfather from Electronic Arts (EA) was again the #1-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended April 16… Tomb Raider: Legend from Eidos was again the #1- selling game in the U.K., according to Chart Track data for the week ended April 15. The only new game in the top 10 was EA’s Battlefield 2: Modern Combat at #10… EA’s The Sims 2 Open For Business Expansion Pack became the top-selling PC game in the U.S. its first month, according to NPD data for March. LucasArts Entertainment’s Star Wars: Empire at War - - Feb.’s #1 title -- slipped to #3.
While there’s no time limit for the judge in the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) electronic surveillance case against AT&T to decide whether he'll unseal key documents, the group expects U.S. Dist. Court, San Francisco Judge Vaughn Walker to decide “fairly soon, but not likely this week.” Meanwhile, he has asked both sides to file briefs on whether they think he should recuse himself because he’s a former AT&T customer and so is technically part of EFF’s class action. Those documents are due on Fri. and after that, Walker said he will rule on motions: (1) EFF’s requests to unseal 2 declarations and for a preliminary injunction. (2) AT&T’s bid to require EFF to return all copies of the documents and forbid them from relying on or referring to them.
Better data reporting by industry on the state of telecom infrastructure, launch of a national repository for the data and development of federal guidelines for credentialing telephone repair crews are among preliminary recommendations of the FCC’s Hurricane Katrina Independent Panel, disclosed at a meeting of the group Wed. The task force is to file a report on its recommendations at the FCC by June 15.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative reviews: