Callaway wins ruling vs. Acushnet in golf ball case

Callaway Golf Co., the maker of Big Bertha golf clubs, won a federal jury verdict in Wilmington, Del., against Fortune Brands Inc.'s Acushnet Co. unit over three patents concerning Titleist Pro V1 golf balls, clearing the way for a trial on damages. Callaway sued last year saying Fairhaven-based Acushnet infringed patents for multilayered golf balls. Joseph Nauman, an Acushnet executive vice president and legal counsel, in a statement said, "We continue to believe that we will ultimately prevail" based on reviews by the court and the Patent and Trademark Office. (Bloomberg)

A French conglomerate has completed the takeover of Thermal North America Inc., the Boston parent of steam utility Trigen. The deal was valued at $788 million in June, when the acquisition by Veolia Energy, a unit of Veolia Environnement of Paris, was first disclosed. A purchase price was not disclosed. Trigen provides steam for heating buildings in nine US cities, including Boston. The company employs about 450, including about 100 in Boston. (Robert Gavin)

The Army has canceled a $280 million contract with a robot maker that is being sued by iRobot Corp. of Burlington. Robotic FX Inc. of Alsip, Ill., in September won the order to supply up to 3,000 bomb disposal robots for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, iRobot was suing Robotic FX in federal courts in Massachusetts and Alabama, alleging Robotic FX used patented technologies and trade secrets belonging to iRobot. Joanne Byrd, the US Army administrator overseeing the contract, said yesterday, "The Robotic FX contract is no longer in existence," citing "peripheral complications" as the reason, but offered no further details. Robotic FX officials could not be reached for comment. (Hiawatha Bray)

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recommended the approval of Hologic Inc.'s Adiana method for sterilizing women that would give them another option to tubal ligation. The alternative procedure takes about 15 minutes to complete and involves radio signals to create a lesion inside the fallopian tube. (AP)

A jury has ordered U.S. Bancorp to pay $17.6 million in a civil lawsuit brought by the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of a company that defrauded investors out of $45 million. The Orange County, Calif., Superior Court jury concluded last week that the bank should have known about fraudulent accounts it opened for operators of DFJ Italia Ltd. Seven people have pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the financial scam, which ran from 1996 to 2000. (AP)

Nintendo Co., unable to meet holiday demand for its Wii video game console, will offer rain checks through retailer GameStop Corp. to shoppers who can't find one before Christmas. Plants in Asia are running at capacity to make 1.8 million players a month, a rate the company plans to maintain after the Christmas shopping season, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said. (Bloomberg)