Hasbro sues over Scrabble copyright infringement

Hasbro Inc., maker of the Scrabble board game, sued the creators of "Scrabulous," an online version found on Facebook.com, claiming it violates the Pawtucket, R.I.-based company's copyrights and trademarks. Indian citizens Rajat Agarwalla and Jayant Agarwalla copied Scrabble's rules, format, and name when they created Scrabulous in 2006, according to the complaint filed in federal court in New York. The suit also names their company, RJ Softwares. The world's second-biggest toy maker also sent a notice of copyright infringement to Facebook Inc., asking the social-networking firm to remove Scrabulous from its US and Canadian sites, Hasbro said. (Bloomberg)

One year after Jeffrey Larson lost about $1.5 billion in one of the hedge fund industry's most spectacular collapses, he and former Sowood Capital Management legal counsel and managing partner Megan Kelleher have formed Larson/Kelleher Capital Management. "Larson is back and he has been calling virtually everyone in town . . . , " said a Boston investor who was contacted by Larson but declined to be identified so he could speak candidly about the new fund. Larson's $3 billion hedge fund firm, Sowood, lost half of its capital following heavy losses on his bond market investments. Within days, the 50-year-old manager, who once helped invest Harvard University's $35 billion endowment and still managed money for the school in his own fund, was forced to shut down his three-year-old company. (Reuters)

New England's largest greenhouse grower of vine-ripened tomatoes plans to build a second greenhouse at its Madison, Maine, site, nearly doubling its year-round growing space. Backyard Farms LLC is set to begin construction this fall on the 18-acre, $20 million, state-of-the-art greenhouse, with the first harvest expected a year later. Backyard Farms opened a 24-acre greenhouse last year. About 75 workers will be hired, bringing the total to more than 175. (AP)

Clear Channel Communications Inc. shareholders approved the $17.9 billion takeover of the largest US radio broadcaster by Boston-based Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. Investors representing 74 percent of shares outstanding voted for the purchase by the private equity firms at a meeting in San Antonio. The $36-a-share buyout will be completed July 30, it said. Clear Channel settled a legal fight in May with banks financing the takeover. The agreement, stemming from Citigroup Inc. and five other banks' refusal to finance the deal, lowered the purchase price by 8.2 percent from the $19.5 billion the buyout firms agreed to pay last year. (Bloomberg)

Wachovia Corp. says its chief financial officer is stepping down and it plans to begin an immediate search for his replacement. Thomas J. Wurtz plans to leave the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank after a successor is named. Wurtz's exit follows that of chief executive Ken Thompson, who was ousted by the board in June after a series of missteps. Robert Steel, former Treasury undersecretary and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive, was hired as Thompson's replacement. (AP)

Genentech Inc. says the company has officially formed a special committee consisting of its three independent board members to consider Roche Holding's takeover bid. Committee chairman Charles Sanders said in a statement there was "no assurance" the committee would approve a deal with Roche. Sanders called the Roche offer of $89 per share for the 44 percent of Genentech stock not owned by the Swiss pharmaceutical maker "unsolicited and unexpected." (AP)

The Federal Reserve said lending to commercial banks rose to an average daily record while loans to securities firms showed a zero balance for a fourth week. Loans to commercial banks through the Fed's traditional discount window increased $2.47 billion to an average $16.4 billion a day in the week ended Wednesday, while lending to Wall Street bond dealers fell to zero from an average $9 million, the Fed reported. The subprime-mortgage collapse has taken a toll on banks and other financial companies, which have reported $468 billion of write-downs since the start of 2007. Fed officials have responded to the yearlong credit crisis by narrowing the gap between the discount rate and the benchmark rate and increasing the term of commercial-bank loans to 90 days from overnight. (Bloomberg)