Through The Fly's Eyes: Star Scientific

from Eric Buscemi of Theflyonthewall.com








Star to Get Lawsuit Decisions Tomorrow

According to a Dow Jones report yesterday, the decisions to three pending Star Scientific (STSI) summary-judgment motions in the companies patent-infringement lawsuit against Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. will be available on tomorrow.

The patent-infringement suit has been ongoing since 2001, when Star Scientific filed against Reynold's, alleging that Reynolds had violated the company's process to reduce the level of nitrosamines - a carcinogenic toxin - in tobacco.

Star Scientific's stock rose from $3.39 to $4.40 yesterday on the news the decisions had been reached, and could rise again significantly should those decisions go its way. Additionally, if Reynolds is ordered to pay a significant enough sum, the tobacco giant may decide to simply buy out Star Scientific rather than pay a hefty patent-infringement fine.