Shell Reserves Downgraded

PalmOne won a lawsuit filed by Xerox over handwriting recognition technology after a judge said Xerox's patent was invalid. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Telesca in Rochester, N.Y., will lead to the dismissal of Xerox's seven-year-old suit against PalmOne and its former parent, 3Com.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments this fall on whether the government can require cattle producers to pay for research into cattle diseases and for advertising of beef products. For nearly 20 years beef producers have had to pay fees that are used to promote the industry, but lower courts have ruled that the programs violate the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. The government says the program is needed to reassure the public about nutrition and food safety.

Lehman Brothers Holdings named Joseph Gregory, 52, its co-chief operating officer and a veteran of its hallmark fixed-income businesses, as president, a post that was vacant for eight years. The other co-chief operating officer, Bradley H. Jack, 45, was named to the office of the chairman, with responsibility for investment banking relationships.

Lucent Technologies said it will buy Telica, a privately held Internet phone service provider based in Marlboro, Mass., for about $295 million in stock and options. The acquisition is expected to strengthen New Jersey-based Lucent's Accelerate portfolio, which helps service providers deliver voice, data and multimedia services, such as streaming video, to subscribers over wireless and wire-line networks.

INTERNATIONAL

Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister of Italy, criticized European monetary authorities for maintaining a strong euro against the dollar, saying their policy was "inconceivable and inconsiderate." Speaking at a political rally in Milan, Berlusconi said, "By keeping euro yields at levels twice as high as the dollar's, European goods' prices have soared 25 percent higher than dollar-denominated prices." The euro rose more than 20 percent against the dollar last year.

LOCAL BUSINESS

Radio One agreed to acquire KRTS-FM in Houston for about $72.5 million in cash. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Radio One expects to change the classical music station's call letters and format. The acquisition increases to three the number of radio stations the Lanham-based company owns and operates in the Houston market.

W.R. Grace, which sought bankruptcy protection because of asbestos injury lawsuits, told a federal bankruptcy judge that it would file its plan to leave Chapter 11 within 120 days. David Bernick, the Columbia-based chemical and building materials manufacturer's lawyer, said that asbestos personal injury claimants are the only stakeholders delaying resolution of plan negotiations. Asbestos was widely used for insulation and fireproofing until the 1970s and has been linked to respiratory ailments and a rare and particularly lethal form of cancer.

Circuit City Stores, based in Richmond, is testing a new business that takes items on consignment from consumers and sells them on eBay. The first Trading Circuit location opened over a week ago in Atlanta. The shops, adjacent to Circuit City stores, will accept just about anything that can be sold on the Internet auction site -- not just consumer electronics. Trading Circuit will take items that consumers want to sell on e-Bay and handle the entire transaction. The company will take a 35 percent cut from the first $500 of an item's selling price and 25 percent from the rest. Consumers also must pay the eBay posting fee and a payment-service fee.

EARNINGS

Medtronic said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose nearly 17 percent, to $568.9 million, on sales of $2.7 billion. For fiscal 2004, Medtronic earned $1.96 billion on sales of $9 billion, compared with $1.6 billion on sales of $7.7 billion a year earlier.

Compiled from reports by the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones News Service and Washington Post staff writers.