In a landmark decision the California Supreme Court Thursday overturned a state ban on gay marriage, making same-sex unions legal in the most populous state in the US. The 4-3 decision is likely to thrust gay marriage back into the political spotlight and potentially make it an important issue in the November general election. The ruling found that domestic partnerships were not an adequate alternative to marriage. In a huge victory for gays and lesbians, the court said a gay marriage ban would violate current recognition that "an individual's sexual orientation - like a person's race or gender - does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights." The court's decision could be overturned in November, when Californians are likely to vote on a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.

Sun Pharma, which received a notice of termination from Taro Pharmaceuticals over its proposed US $454 million merger, has decided to drag Taro to court for reneging on its agreement of May 18, 2007. Sun Pharma has laid bare Taro’s claims that several third parties had expressed their interest in pursuing alternative transactions with Taro. Sun Pharma claimed this as misleading and said that no credible offers for the entire company had surfaced. Sun Pharma has also maintained that a merger at $10.25 per share was in the best interest of all the Taro shareholders. According to analysts, if both the parties go to court, the verdict would likely go in the direction where minority shareholders were benefitted more. The Indian company ahs also charged that the Israeli company has not produced audited financials for 2006 and 2007.

In the Lipitor case where Ranbaxy had filed a patent litigation against Pfizer, an Australian court has ruled in the Indian pharma giant’s favour. However, the court has also ruled that a proposed Ranbaxy generic product under a different patent infringed Pfizer’s basic Lipitor patent (number 6011981). The Australian Federal court in Victoria ruled that one of Pfizer’s patent was invalid was invalid for in-utility, false suggestion and misrepresentation.

Indian IT giant Satyam Computers has lost an appeal involving one of its former customers Upaid, which had been pursuing a fraud and forgery case against it. Upaid, an online and mobile payment major, had originally filed a case against Satyam in a Texas court in April 2007 accusing Satyam of fraud, misrepresentation and breach of contract. The High Court in January 2008 had refused Satyam’s request. Satyam appealed against this decision which was dismissed by a Court of Appeal panel presided over by Lord Justice Waller who is also the vice-president of the Court of Appeal Civil Division. Upaid had come up with the idea of converting any telephone into a de facto payphone through the use of the prepaid system in1996 and had outsourced development of the idea into a software solution. When Upaid was trying to seek patents on the solution in the US, it was required to get IP transferred from Satyam to Upaid which was agreed to by both the companies for a cash payment. The case filed by Upaid involves issues related to the transaction and the IP involved in the product development.