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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO INFLATION?
Carlos Fernández Valdovinos
Julio Velarde Flores
Miroslav Singer
Raghuram Rajan
Zeti Akhtar Aziz
Amando Tetangco Jr.
Perng Fai-nan
Karnit Flug
Generally speaking, monetary policy does not come in a one-size-fits-all model. Since the global financial crisis, however, central bankers in many countries have adopted a similar tack. They've stopped acting as inflation fighters. Instead, they've embraced unconventional policies to stave off deflation, which remains a persistent problem. And they've had to do this while wrestling with volatile swings in free-floating currency rates. Many countries, particularly those in emerging markets, have drifted toward flexible, but managed, exchange rate systems.
And while monetary policy is an inexact science, central bankers on the whole are getting better at their jobs. "Central banking as a profession has come a long way, striving to adapt itself to the challenges faced by economies over time," says Stanley Fischer, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve and former governor of the Bank of Israel. "And both the practice and theory of central banking will continue to evolve."
They'll have to. Global markets are increasingly intertwined, which adds to the complexity of keeping economies on an even keel. The appreciation of the US dollar, for one, has kept central bankers in emerging markets on their toes. Cheaper exports are a good thing, pricier imports are not. And central bankers in developing countries have been holding their breath, anticipating what will happen when the US federal funds rate goes up.
The wild swings on global stock markets that commenced in late August put the Fed's move on hold. But Fischer, speaking at a roundtable for African central bankers at the University of Oxford, noted that the eventual rise in the Fed's overnight rate will likely trigger higher interest rates around the world. "The increase in global interest rates could cause investors to adjust their portfolios, triggering capital outflows from emerging market and developing economies," he said.
That could well be the case in Asia. Many central banks in the region, including those of China and India, have cut interest rates this year and devalued their currencies to promote growth. Higher interest rates in emerging markets and developing nations will make those countries less attractive to asset managers. Fischer believes the US central bank is well aware of possible damage to other economies from its policy moves, however. "In an interconnected world," he says, "fulfilling the Fed's objectives requires that we pay close attention to how our own actions affect other countries, and how developments abroad, in turn, spill back into US economic conditions."
Case in point: Many African nations were able to issue bonds in global markets in recent years—some for the first time ever. But higher interest rates could limit these countries' ability to finance essential projects or fund budget deficits on favorable terms. The slump in commodities prices—and the surge in the US dollar—will make it more difficult. "The reduced ability of governments to finance their needs will likely increase the challenges faced by central banks in their efforts to assist the economic growth and development agendas of their national governments," Fischer notes.
Typically, a central bank's choice of monetary policy framework depends on the objectives it aims to achieve, on the challenges that an economy faces, and on the structure of the financial markets and the economy in which it operates, according to Fischer. In many developing countries, financial systems remain small and are not diversified. That hinders the ability of central banks to conduct open-market operations, he says. In these cases, changes in policy rates have a limited effect on the economy and other interest rates. Therefore, as developing countries seek to modernize their policy frameworks, Fischer explains, they must engage in a parallel effort to develop the market institutions needed to carry out monetary policy effectively.
Of course, every country faces a different economic situation. And every central bank has to take a wide range of factors into account when formulating policies aimed at remedying problems.
As our Central Banker Report Cards show, some central bankers are doing a better job than others at making the right moves. We assessed 74 governors on an A to F scale. Nine governors received an A. Three central bankers—all from Latin American countries—got a D. None of the 74 merited a failing grade.
Global Finance has published the report cards since 1994. The rating is based on, among other things, inflation control, economic growth, currency stability and interest-rate management, as well as the determination of central bankers to protect their independence in the face of political pressure.
NEXT PAGE: GRADES BY REGION

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Miranda stunned by record 16 Tony nods for 'Hamilton'
Elysa Gardner
It was early last year that Hamilton first launched its revolution, opening off-Broadway at the Public Theater. Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical has since nabbed pretty much every prize it could, including the Pulitzer — save for the Tony Awards. Hamiltononly became eligible after moving uptown last summer.
So surely, Miranda couldn't have been too surprised when it was announced Tuesday morning that the smash Broadway hit is up for 16 Tony Awards — a record number for a single production. And that he, as the show's composer/lyricist, librettist and star, was up for three individually.
"Let's put this in perspective," says Miranda, 36, who won a Tony in 2008 for his score for Inthe Heights. "I've been lucky to have had years when having one nomination was an incredible thing. To have 16? That's almost too much to frigging process."
Miranda is similarly modest in assessing Hamilton's marriage of two great American traditions, musical theater and hip-hop, that mainstream audiences had not previously viewed as ideal bedfellows.
"There have been amazing musicals that have utilized hip-hop in the past — just as there were amazing musicals that utilized rock before Rent," Miranda tells USA TODAY. "What Rent did was end the conversation. Now we don't even question it when rock is used in musicals. Hopefully, Hamilton will do the same for hip-hop."
Indeed, in Miranda's music and lyrics, and the arrangements he wrote with orchestrator Alex Lacamoire (also a nominee), rapping flows seamlessly into singing. The melodies support dazzling displays of rhythm and rhyme that mine the inherent theatricality, and musicality, of hop-hop.
'Hamilton' gets its shots —16 of them —at the Tony Awards
In Alexander Hamilton, Miranda also has crafted a character as aspirational and complex as Gypsy's Momma Rose or the Notorious B.I.G. That a founding father and the architect of our country's financial system was born in the British West Indies is not inconsequential, either in the story Miranda tells — aided by director and fellow nominee Thomas Kail's canny multi-racial casting — or in our own fraught political atmosphere. As I wrote in a four-star review, they have "crafted a nascent USA that looks contemporary, emphasizing our debt to the different people who have defined our country by carving out new lives here — often under difficult circumstances, and sometimes not by their own choice."
Musical theater has long grappled with vexing social issues. Racism, as well immigration and migration to different lands, are prominent among them — as recent Broadway revivals of West Side Story, South Pacific and The King and I and this season's Fiddler on the Roof and The Color Purple have reminded us.
"It's been an incredible season for musicals," Miranda says, noting that at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, he and Hamilton's cast and crew are "neighbors" with the company of Shuffle Along, another probing and exhilarating (and multi-nominated) account of American history. Miranda also praises Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's incorporation of bluegrass into the new Bright Star, and "Andrew Lloyd Webber coming back to rock with School of Rock."
Looking ahead to Tonys night on June 12, Miranda won't say yet whether he's preparing to rap an acceptance speech, as he did at February's Grammy Awards.
"I can tell you that my wife is wearing a kick-(butt) dress by a young Dominican designer," Miranda says. "Other than that, I haven't figured anything out."


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the world to experience World Youth Day, and we have travelled extensively with Canadian Probus clubs.
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New father Alexis Ohanian just wants to spoil his baby girl! Serena Williams took to social media today to jokingly call out her fiancé and baby daddy for buying their 2-month-old daughter Alexis Olympia way too many things!
'I do love Alexis Sr. @alexisohanian but if he buys one more outfit or toy for Olympia @OlympiaOhanian I'm going to explode,' the tennis champion tweeted.
'Books don't count!' the Reddit co-founder adorably replied.
But of course, the man is not buying his baby just books.
He actually took to Instagram to show off a small version of Thor's hammer that he bought for the baby as they were getting ready to watch Thor: Ragnarok.
'Junior's first movie. Mama needed a day off to relax. I rented out the whole theater, so we'd be able to just have the family and some friends, the squad and Junior. Of course, mama fell asleep,' Ohanian said in a video he posted as he panned the camera so we could see Serena sleeping on his shoulder.
Thor: Ragnarok is a family affair.
What an amazing family they make!
The couple got engaged back in December and on September 1, they also welcomed their first baby together.
Ever since then, Williams and Ohanian have been updating fans on pretty much everything regarding the baby girl.


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Developmental Meets
Support Track & Field
Open Track Meets
Men's Track and Field Post Strong Finishes at Wesleyan Spring Classic
Photo by Jonas Powell '18
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - Hosting its first track and field meet of the spring season, the Wesleyan University men's track and field team put on a strong performance in the Wesleyan Spring Classic.
TRACK HIGHLIGHTS
Sophomore Albert Fang placed seventh in the 400 meter dash with a time of 52.12. Teammate Drew Trotman '18 crossed the line in 13th with a time of 53.33.
The Cardinals 4x400 meter relay team came in third place overall as Fang, Trotman, Austin Dhillon '18, and Colin Mahoney '18 were able to cross the finish line with a time of 3:33.30.
FIELD HIGHLIGHTS
Andrew McCracken '19 and Jessy Carrasco-Gonzalez claimed first and second place, as McCracken edged out his teammate for first clearing 4.25m. Carrasco-Gonzales' score of 4.10m gave him second place overall in the event.
Agbon Edomwonyi '16 claimed second place in the hammer throw as he threw for 46.68m. He also came in second in the discus throw, throwing 41.20m
Wesleyan will return to action on Saturday, April 2, as they will compete in the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Invitational.
August 1, 2016 Wesleyan Track & Field Teams Earn All-Academic Team Honors; Two Cardinals Garner Individual Praise
May 19, 2016 Three Track and Field Athletes Compete at ECAC Championships
May 14, 2016 Three Members of the Men's Track and Field Team Compete at the Open New England Championships
May 7, 2016 Men's Track and Field Competes at New England Division III Championships
May 3, 2016 Edomwonyi and McCracken Named to Men's Track and Field All-NESCAC Team
April 30, 2016 Men's Track and Field Finishes Seventh at NESCAC Championships
April 28, 2016 Men's Track and Field Set to Compete at NESCAC Championships
April 23, 2016 Cardinals Claim Six Event Wins at J. Elmer Swanson Invitational
April 16, 2016 Wesleyan Men's Track & Field Takes Sixth at Silfen Invitational
April 9, 2016 Cardinals Finish Seventh at Amherst Spring Fling
April 2, 2016 Cardinals Finish in 11th Place at US Coast Guard Invitational
March 28, 2016 Edomwonyi Named NESCAC Field Performer of the Week
March 26, 2016 Men's Track and Field Post Strong Finishes at Wesleyan Spring Classic
March 5, 2016 Cardinals Compete at Tufts Invitational and ECAC Championships
February 27, 2016 Track and Field Competes at the New England Indoor Chamiopnships
February 20, 2016 Cardinals Track and Field Compete at DIII New England Finals
February 13, 2016 Men's Track and Field Competes at MIT Invitational and Terrier Classic
February 6, 2016 Men's Track and Field Capture Two Events at Wesleyan Invitational
January 30, 2016 Men's Track & Field Takes Seventh at Tufts Stampede
January 23, 2016 Cardinals Win Two Events at Wesleyan Invitational
January 16, 2016 Men's Track and Field Competes in Little Three Championship
January 11, 2016 Cardinals Compete at Yale Invitational
Sat, 01/18 | Men's Track & Field Smith Invitational Individual Results (Final) RC | R
Sat, 01/11 | Men's Track & Field Little Three Championship 3/3 (Final) RC | R | PH
Fri, 12/06 | Men's Track & Field Conn. College Individual Results (Final) RC | R | PH
Wed, 05/15 | Men's Track & Field Last Chance Meet Individual Results (Final) R
Sat, 05/11 | Men's Track & Field Open New England Championship 38/38 (Final) RC


Kick It Recordings Breaks FREEBIES!
Free breaks track or free ham sandwich?!
Anyone know a decent UK Garage compilation from the late 90s?
Signed a track with Diablo Loco!
Breaks is on the rebound and dubstep is the illuminati… here's the proof!!
Qcid - electric breaks 03 - dj-mix !!!!!
Accelerated Culture OUT NOW .
Tony Lizana - Puros BPM 2015!


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A challenging space shooter game inspired by Galaga.
You have 2 bullets and can only gain more through the level up system. Each enemy killed gives you XP. Dying or starting a new level resets your player level back to 1.
The game is 5 levels in total and each level has a unique enemy to battle.


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Covid-19 Kindled Washington, D.C.'s Luxury Market. The New Administration Could Make it Even Hotter
January 22, 2021 by Stellar ICRE in Industry News, Joe Biden, luxury real estate, The Wall Street Journal, Trends, Washington DC
Stephen Voss for The Wall Street Journal
For many years, Michael Stock said he never considered selling his handsome Beaux-Arts Revival-style home on Washington, D.C.'s prestigious Embassy Row—not even when representatives from a nearby embassy stopped by with a case of wine and an unsolicited bid of interest.
Then the pandemic happened, sending the local luxury real-estate market on an unstoppable hot streak. The rise in prices, combined with the promise of fresh demand spurred by an incoming presidential administration, proved too good to pass up: Mr. Stock listed his home, which he bought in 2008 and spent years restoring, for $5.5 million earlier this month.
Like many other cities whose luxury housing stock is dominated by single-family homes, Washington, D.C.'s market has only benefited from the Covid-19 crisis, as buyers—often spurred by ultralow interest rates plus the desire for dedicated home offices and large gardens—move to larger homes. As a result, the D.C. real-estate market is pricier than it has been in years, according to local agents.
Now, with a new administration taking over the White House, those agents say they are busier than ever. "I'm on meetings and showings all day long," said Daniel Heider of TTR Sotheby's International Realty, noting that he's already shown Mr. Stock's house to a couple relocating to the area to serve in President Joe Biden's administration.
"We didn't know where we were going to be when Covid hit in March," said Robert Hryniewicki, a luxury agent with Washington Fine Properties who said he is currently handling a bidding war for a Massachusetts Avenue Heights property priced at $5.65 million. "But after April, it really took off."
The median price of a home sold in Washington, D.C., was $641,300 in December, a 1% increase from the same time a year prior, according to data from real-estate firm Long & Foster. The volume of sales was up 16% during that same period. The number of signed contracts in December was 731, up 40% from December 2019.
In December, there were just 1.7 months of housing supply available in Washington, D.C., down 12% from the prior year.
The ultra-high-end saw even more of an uptick. There were 72 transactions priced at $4 million and up in the capitol region in 2020, compared with 53 in 2019, according to Washington Fine Properties. There were eight sales priced at $10 million or more, compared with zero the year before.
Coe Magruder's Massachusetts Avenue Heights home sold for $4 million last year before he could put it on the market.
Coe Magruder, a 67-year-old hedge-fund and asset-management entrepreneur, is one of the many beneficiaries of the hot market. He sold his Massachusetts Avenue Heights home, a redbrick Colonial formerly home to the embassy of Swaziland (now known as Eswatini), for $4 million in August after receiving an unsolicited offer, he said.
He said he and his wife Denise Magruder had already relocated to Vero Beach, Fla., and were planning to do some work to their home, including a paint job and a redo of the bathrooms, before listing it for sale.
The market wouldn't wait. Mr. Hryniewicki, the couple's agent, soon had a client for whom the house was perfect. Mr. Magruder agreed to a single showing and threw in a caveat: The buyer would have to meet the fixed asking price of $4 million, or he would continue with his plans to spruce up the property and list it publicly later.
Within a week, a contract was signed for $4 million. Mr. Hryniewicki said the home sold for a notable premium over what it might have sold for prior to the Covid-19 crisis.
Being home with their two young children amid the pandemic made real-estate developer Michael Rocks and his wife Dana Rocks, who was pregnant with their third child, rethink their space. In November, they listed their four-bedroom Tudor in the leafy Wesley Heights neighborhood to move to a larger home in McLean, Va., where the children could each have their own rooms and a bigger yard.
"Little kids have a lot of energy they need to expend," said Mr. Rocks, 35, who became a father of three in December. "They want a jungle gym, and since they couldn't go to the playground we wanted to create something like that for them in our own yard."
The Rockses hosted one open house and about 12 separate tours and received four offers over their $1.795 million asking price, Mr. Rocks said. "What was shocking to us was how many offers there were," he added. The house went into contract for $2.022 million just four days after it was listed.
While they reveled in the success of a quick sale, the flip side of the market was trickier; the purchase of their new home in McLean required winning a three-way bidding war. "Everything is just so expensive and in such limited supply," Mr. Rocks said.
Real-estate agents project the market will become even tighter in the next few months, as Mr. Biden continues to roll out new appointments.
Neighborhoods expected to be especially in demand include fashionable areas like Kalorama and Massachusetts Avenue Heights, which are known for drawing Washington high society, including major political donors, lobbyists and wealthy elected officials, as well as billionaires like Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos. In these neighborhoods, a short drive from the Capitol, high-end classic homes are clustered together on tree-lined streets.
Despite for a heavy security presence in some pockets, designed to protect residents like Jared Kushner and first daughter Ivanka Trump, the Kalorama neighborhood was quiet on a recent Sunday. A few walkers with their dogs paid little attention to the security as they passed.
Mr. Stock, 44, leads a nonprofit that trains peacekeepers and military forces in troubled parts of the world. While his home is close to the one owned by President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, he said the security is basically discreet and somewhat reassuring. "You couldn't find a safer block probably anywhere in the country," he said. "Sometimes, when there are people over for an event, I don't lock the door."
During the last presidential transition, administration officials like Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway all bought homes within the same tiny area.
"This current administration threw everyone in the housing market for a loop," Mr. Heider said. "There were people coming from New York and Palm Beach, who were extremely wealthy and that upper bracket market went on fire," Mr. Heider said.
It isn't clear if Mr. Biden's cabinet will be as affluent, or if those Trump administration officials will leave D.C. following President Trump's departure; as of now, none of their homes are publicly listed for sale.
As for the recent riot at the Capitol, Mr. Heider said he expects it to have little to no effect on demand for homes.
"Obviously, a breach of the capitol building is not something to brush off, but Washington has been home to protest after protest for decades," he said, though he noted that the curfews imposed because of the riot were inconvenient for residents. "This summer, there was looting and businesses being set on fire and it didn't impact the real-estate market. It's just part of living in Washington."
The post Covid-19 Kindled Washington, D.C.'s Luxury Market. The New Administration Could Make it Even Hotter appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.


Below you can view all the homes for sale in the Laurelglen subdivision located in Henderson Nevada. Listings in Laurelglen are updated daily from data we receive from the Las Vegas multiple listing service.
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Outside of home was completely repainted in April 2017 and a new front door installed as well. MLS#2064505. Keller Williams Southern Nevada.


Even more youngsters from the United States could be living with a brain injury from their mother's prenatal drinking than specialists had previously assumed, a new report proposes.
The study of several American communities discovered that at least 1.5 percent to 5.5 percent of first-graders had a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder of some description (FASD).
The occurrence varied depending on the community. And when the researchers used a less-strict estimation process, the level went as large as TEN percentage points in one place.
The figures challenge typically accepted estimates of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which have been thought to affect around only 1 percent of U.S.A raised children.
" The bottom line is, these are not rare disorders," stated research study pioneer Chris Chambers, a lecturer of pediatrics from The State Of California.
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is an umbrella phrase that includes the more well known 'fetal alcohol syndrome,' which can be fatal. FASD also can cause severe complications with learning ability and behavior, stunted development, and facial abnormalities. It also includes less-severe learning or behavioral issues that may be traced directly to a woman's antenatal alcohol consumption.
Youngsters in that latter group might have trouble with schoolwork or poor impulse management, for example. And it may be challenging to identify fetal alcohol spectrum disorder as the cause. Versus a medical diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Her team's findings are based on assessments performed by professionals with specific knowledge in diagnosing fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. And other scientists said that makes their estimations exceptionally reliable.
Fifer, who was not associated with the report, said the data underscore a crucial story: The "best route" is for women to stop drinking alcohol when planning on getting pregnant and giving birth.
"Most women will quit drinking once they learn they are pregnant," Fifer stated. However, he added, those early days and weeks when a woman may not know she's carrying a child are a critical period.
The report featured greater than 6,750 first grade children from four U.S.A areas: a county in the Southeast, and cities in the Pacific Southwest, Midwest, and the Rocky Mountains.
The youngsters went through detailed assessments, and their moms were interviewed about their drinking habits during pregnancy. Other factors were included in the report such as cigarette smoking, substance abuse, and general prenatal health care.
The researchers predicted that "conservatively," fetal alcohol spectrum disorder affected between 1.1 percent and 5.5 percent of the children. The cases of FASD were least common in the Midwestern urban area, and most common in the Rocky Mountain area.
Using the new methods of assessment, however, the range was approximately 3.5 percent to 10.5 percent.
Chris Chambers explained the difference: Not all of the pupils could be evaluated. The "traditional" estimate presumed that none of those children had a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which, she mentioned, is unlikely.
The other assessment, she claimed, presumed that Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder was equally as common with unscreened kids as they were in the screened group of people. Once again, she mentioned, that may be a leap.
So the "real" figures might exist someplace in between, she pointed out.
According to Fifer, it's not surprising that the level of fetal alcohol damage ranged so much among communities. It's thought that other variables like genetic makeup, prenatal nutrition, and cigarette smoking influence the risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, he said. And those points would differ from one urban location to the next.
Of the 220+ kids discovered to have a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, only two had been diagnosed before the study, the researchers mentioned.
In the actual state of play, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are often misdiagnosed as ADHD or yet another developmental disease, said Dr. Svetlana Popova, a top specialist at the Center for Dependency and Mental Wellness, in Toronto, Canada.
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, however, generally results in more severe symptoms than ADHD does, clarified Dr. Popova, author of an article published in the study.
One problem, she said, is that family doctors in most states never get the education they require to accurately diagnose Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder because it's not addressed in the traditional medical school curriculum.
She emphasized there is no recognized "risk-free amount" of alcohol for expecting females to drink. The best means of prevention of a fetal alcohol disorder is to refrain from drinking alcohol altogether.
For help to stop drinking click here.


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The IAOM
Constitution By-Laws
Constitution of the Academy
Past Chancellors
Quelch, John
John A. Quelch is Distinguished Professor of International Management, Vice President and Dean at CEIBS (http://www.ceibs.edu/). He was appointed as La Caixa Visiting Professor of International Management at CEIBS in 2009 and joined CEIBS officially in February 2011. Previously, he was Senior Associate Dean and Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Between 1998 and 2001 he was Dean of London Business School. Prior to 1998, he was the Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing and Co-Chair of the Marketing Unit at Harvard Business School.
Professor Quelch's research focus is on global marketing and branding in emerging as well as developed markets. His current research projects address (a) understanding the continuing importance of place, distribution and localization in marketing strategy and (b) formalizing appropriate marketing and customer metrics for periodic review by boards of directors. Professor Quelch is the author, co-author or editor of twenty-five books, including All Business Is Local (2012), Greater Good: How Good Marketing Makes for Better Democracy (2008), Business Solutions for the Global Poor: Creating Social and Economic Value (2007), The New Global Brands (2006), Global Marketing Management (5th edition, 2006), The Global Market (2005), Cases in Advertising and Promotion Management (4th Edition, 1996) and The Marketing Challenge of Europe 1992 (2nd edition, 1991). He has published seventeen articles on marketing strategy issues in Harvard Business Review, and many more in leading practioner and academic journals including McKinsey Quarterly, Sloan Management Review, Marketing Science and Journal of Public Policy and Marketing.
Professor Quelch is well-known for his teaching materials and innovations in pedagogy. Over the past twenty years, his case studies have sold over 3.4 million copies, third highest in HBS history. In 1995, he developed the first HBS interactive CD-ROM exercise (on Intel's advertising budgeting process). In 1999, he developed and presented a series of twelve one hour programs on Marketing Management for the Public Broadcasting System. His Marketing Know: How blog was one of the first faculty blogs distributed by Harvard Business School Publishing.
Professor Quelch has served as an independent director of twelve publicly listed companies in the USA and UK. He is a non-executive director of WPP Group plc, the world's largest marketing services company, and Alere Inc., a medical diagnostics and health management company. He has also served pro bono as Chairman of the Port Authority of Massachusetts and as Honorary Consul General of Morocco in New England. Professor Quelch has been a consultant, seminar leader and speaker for firms, industry associations and government agencies in more than fifty countries. He is a member of the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's 2011 Birthday Honours.
He was born in London, England, was educated at Exeter College, Oxford University (BA and MA), the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (MBA), the Harvard School of Public Health (SM) and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration (DBA). In addition to the UK and USA, he has lived in Australia and Canada.
Web: http://www.ceibs.edu/facultyCV/jquelch/index.htm
Publications: http://www.amazon.com/John-A.-Quelch/e/B001IQZAAK
Articles: http://www.amazon.com/John-A.-Quelch/e/B001IQZAAK
Other Fellows
Dhebar, Anirudh
Anirudh Dhebar is Professor of Marketing at Babson College. Prior to joining the faculty at Babson College, Anirudh was on the faculty at the Harvard Business School (1983 – 1995) and the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1995 – 1997). He has served on the Board of Directors and the … Continued
Boddewyn, Jean
Jean Boddewyn is Emeritus Professor of Marketing and International Business and former Coordinator of the International Business Program in the Zicklin School of Business of Baruch College, City University of New York.
Pastor, Alfredo
Alfredo Pastor is professor in the Department of Economics and the holder of the Banco de Sabadell, Chair of Emerging Markets at IESE.
Kanter, Rosabeth. M
Rosabeth Moss Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School, where she specializes in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change.
Jacobs, Donald P.
Donald Jacobs has been a member of the Kellogg School faculty since 1957 and was Dean from 1975 until 2001. He was named the Gaylord Freeman Professor of Banking in 1979.
Leonova, Tatiana
Phd., Professor, State University of Management, Moscow, Russia.
Copyright © 2020 The International Academy of Management. All rights reserved.


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Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Federal Circuit › 2008 › MARS V COIN ACCEPTORS
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MARS V COIN ACCEPTORS, No. 07-1409 (Fed. Cir. 2008)
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 2007-1409, -1436 MARS, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff/Counterclaim DefendantAppellant, and MARS ELECTRONICS INTERNATIONAL, INC., Plaintiff/Counterclaim Defendant, and M&M/MARS INCORPORATED, Counterclaim Defendant, v. COIN ACCEPTORS, INC., Defendant/CounterclaimantCross Appellant. John B. Pegram, Fish & Richardson P.C., of New York, New York, argued for plaintiff/counterclaim defendant-appellant. With him on the brief were Autumn J.S. Hwang; and Michael E. Florey and Kraig A. Jakobsen, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kenneth J. Mallin, Bryan Cave LLP, of St. Louis, Missouri, argued for defendant/counterclaimant-cross appellant. With him on the brief was K. Lee Marshall. Appealed from: United States District Court for the District of New Jersey Judge John C. Lifland United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 2007-1409, -1436 MARS, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff/Counterclaim Defendant-Appellant, and MARS ELECTRONICS INTERNATIONAL, INC., Plaintiff/Counterclaim Defendant, and M&M/MARS INCORPORATED, Counterclaim Defendant, v. COIN ACCEPTORS, INC., Defendant/Counterclaimant-Cross Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Case No. 90-CV-00049, Senior Judge John C. Lifland. __________________________ DECIDED: June 2, 2008 __________________________ Before LINN, Circuit Judge, CLEVENGER, Senior Circuit Judge, and PROST, Circuit Judge. Linn, Circuit Judge. This case involves standing and damages for patent infringement. Mars Incorporated ( Mars ) appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey precluding Mars from recovering damages on a lost profits theory and denying Mars s motion to amend its complaint to add its subsidiary as a coplaintiff in its infringement action against Coin Acceptors, Inc. ( Coinco ). Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., No. 90-CV-0049, 2006 WL 2927239 (D.N.J. May 19, 2006) (denial of motion to amend and grant of summary judgment on lost profits theory); Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., No. 90-CV-0049, 2006 WL 2927240 (D.N.J. Aug. 7, 2006) (grant in part of motion for reconsideration); Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., No. 90-CV0049, 2006 WL 2990371 (D.N.J. Oct. 18, 2006) (denial of motion to reconsider reconsideration). Coinco cross-appeals the district court s judgment that Mars had standing to recover damages for the period between 1996 and 2003, and it appeals the reasonable royalty rate imposed by the district court. Mars, 2006 WL 2927240; Mars, 2006 WL 2990371; Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., No. 90-CV-0049, slip. op. (D.N.J. May 22, 2007) (final judgment on damages). We agree with the district court that Mars was not entitled to recover on a lost profits theory and that Mars s subsidiary lacked standing prior to 1996. We likewise find no error in the district court s determination of a reasonably royalty rate. We disagree, however, with the district court s conclusion that Mars had standing to recover damages for the period between 1996 and 2003. The court therefore affirms-in-part, reverses-inpart, and remands. I. BACKGROUND The patents-in-suit relate to technology used in vending machines to authenticate coins. Mars is a candy company. Mars s former subsidiary Mars Electronics International, Inc. ( MEI ) manufactures and sells vending machine coin changers with the ability to recognize and authenticate coins electronically. Mars itself does not make and has never made vending machine coin changers. 2007-1409, -1436 2 Until 2006, MEI was a wholly owned subsidiary of Mars. Mars maintained consolidated financial statements that reflected the profits, losses, assets, and liabilities of all of its subsidiaries, including MEI. However, prior to 1996, MEI also had a royalty agreement with Mars, under which MEI made payments to Mars [b]ased on gross sales value of coin changers using Mars s patented technology. J.A. 4131 (deposition testimony of Mars s Corporate Tax Director Thomas G. Cornell). The royalty payments from MEI to Mars were structured as in a typical intellectual property licensing agreement: even if MEI did not make a profit, [it was] still obligated to pay a royalty to Mars. Id. On January 5, 1990, Mars brought this action against Coinco, alleging that certain Coinco products infringed U.S. Patents No. 3,870,137 ( 137 patent ) and No. 4,538,719 ( 719 patent ). Mars owned both the 137 patent and the 719 patent at the time it filed suit. Coinco counterclaimed, alleging infringement of four of its own patents, and MEI (which manufactured the devices accused of infringing Coinco s patents) was added as a counterclaim defendant. Following consolidation with a related declaratory judgment case and trial, the district court found that Coinco infringed both the 137 and the 719 patents, but that Mars did not infringe Coinco s asserted patents. On November 17, 2005, the district court entered final judgment on liability pursuant to Rule 54(b). Coinco appealed, and this court affirmed the district court s liability judgment. The district court then began proceedings on damages. During the fifteen years that the infringement action was pending, several key events occurred that limited the 2007-1409, -1436 3 damages available to Mars. First, on March 1, 1992, the 137 patent expired. Mars, 2006 WL 2927240, at *6. Second, on March 31, 1994, Coinco introduced non-infringing alternative technology for electronic coin authentication. The parties therefore agreed that Mars was not entitled to lost profits for any lost sales after March 31, 1994. Third, on January 1, 1996, Mars entered into a set of agreements (collectively, the 1996 Agreements ) with MEI and another Mars subsidiary in the United Kingdom, which was also called Mars Electronics International ( MEI-UK ). Mars and MEI-UK had been involved in a dispute with the United Kingdom s taxing authority (at that time known as Inland Revenue), concerning the tax treatment of royalty payments from MEIUK to its parent Mars. The 1996 Agreements resolved this dispute by transferring certain rights from Mars to MEI, and by establishing that MEI-UK would pay Mars royalties at agreed-upon diminishing rates, beginning at 5% in 1996, and gradually declining to 2% in 2004. Specifically, effective January 1, 1996, Mars transferred to MEI: its entire interest in the Covered Intellectual Property that relates to the business of the Parties. J.A. 4942. The Covered Intellectual Property was defined as those letters patent that the Parties have been heretofore using and exploiting, in the conduct of their businesses. J.A. 4941. Finally, on July 1, 2003, the 719 patent expired. Mars, 2006 WL 2927240, at *6. The parties agree that Mars is not entitled to any damages for infringing sales after that date. Mars sought the following damages: (1) lost profits, or, at minimum, a reasonable royalty for sales prior to March 31, 1994 (the period prior to Coinco s 2007-1409, -1436 4 introduction of alternative technology); and (2) a reasonable royalty on Coinco s sales from April 1, 1994 until July 1, 2003 (the remaining life of the patents). Coinco acknowledged that Mars was entitled to a reasonable royalty prior to January 1, 1996 (the date on which the 1996 Agreements took effect), but disputed both Mars s claim to lost profits and its claim to any damages after January 1, 1996. Before the damages trial, Coinco moved for partial summary judgment on Mars s claim for lost profits damages. Mars, 2006 WL 2927239, at *4. Mars, conversely, moved for leave to amend its complaint to join MEI as a co-plaintiff. Id. at *1. The district court granted Coinco s summary judgment motion, reasoning that Mars itself did not lose any sales (because it did not sell coin changers itself), and that there was no evidence that profits from MEI s sales flowed inexorably to Mars. Id. at *5-6. The district court also denied Mars s motion for leave to amend as futile, reasoning that MEI lacked standing in the infringement action, because it was neither the owner nor the exclusive licensee of the patents-in-suit. Id. at *3-4. On Mars s motion for reconsideration, the district court modified its ruling on Mars s motion for leave to amend. The court held that the 1996 Agreements assigned all of Mars s interest in the 719 patent to MEI, and it therefore reasoned that MEI but not Mars had standing to pursue claims from January 1996 forward. Mars, 2006 WL 2927240, at *8. But relying on our holding in Schreiber Foods, Inc. v. Beatrice Cheese, Inc., 402 F.3d 1198 (Fed. Cir. 2005), the district court further held that Mars s lack of standing for the period after 1996 could be cured by the imminent transfer back to Mars of the rights to the 137 and 719 patents before final judgment. Mars, 2006 WL 2927240, at *8. 2007-1409, -1436 5 On March 31, 2006, Mars and certain of its subsidiaries, including MEI, entered into a purchase agreement for the sale of certain parts of the subsidiaries businesses to Mars. The purchase agreement was not made part of the record, either before the district court or on appeal. Mars s counsel represented to the district court that the purchase agreement did not clearly state what [was] needed to be stated for this case, and that it would not rear its ugly head in the litigation. J.A. 3914. Instead, what was offered was an agreement between Mars and MEI entitled COINCO CONFIRMATION AGREEMENT, effective June 19, 2006 ( Confirmation Agreement ). J.A. 3177. The Confirmation Agreement stated that Mars and [MEI] do hereby acknowledge that Mars owns and retains the right to sue for past infringement of the Litigation Patents i.e., the 137 and 719 patents. J.A. 3177-78. Apparently treating the Confirmation Agreement as a transfer of all of MEI s rights back to Mars, the district court held that MEI now lacked standing to pursue any claim for damages, but that Mars was entitled to recover damages during the period when MEI had owned the patents. The district court held a four-day bench trial on damages to determine the appropriate amount of a reasonable royalty. Following this trial, the district court issued a detailed oral opinion from the bench (spanning forty-six transcript pages), analyzing the fifteen Georgia-Pacific factors and concluding that a blended 7% royalty rate for the two patents was reasonable. After resolving post-trial motions, the district court applied this 7% royalty rate to Coinco sales up to July 1, 2003, resulting in damages of $14,376,062. The district court awarded prejudgment interest and entered final judgment on May 22, 2007. 2007-1409, -1436 6 Both parties timely appealed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1). II. DISCUSSION We address four issues raised by this appeal: (1) whether Mars was entitled to lost profits; (2) whether MEI had standing to recover damages incurred prior to 1996; (3) whether Mars had standing to recover damages incurred from 1996 to 2003; and (4) whether the district court erred by imposing a 7% royalty rate. A. Lost Profits The district court granted Coinco s motion for summary judgment on Mars s claim of lost profits because it concluded that: (1) Mars s arrangement with MEI was a licensing arrangement, rather than an arrangement where profits flow[ed] inexorably from MEI to Mars ; (2) Mars s nonexclusive licensing policy signified that it expected only reasonable royalties, rather than lost profits; and (3) Mars lacked the capacity to manufacture the patented products itself, without relying on MEI. 2927239, at *6. Mars, 2006 WL The district court relied particularly on Poly-America L.P. v. GSE Licensing Technology, Inc., a case in which we held that a patent holder is not entitled to recover under a lost profits theory as a result of sales lost by a sister corporation, absent a showing that the patent holder itself had lost profits. 383 F.3d 1303, 1311 (Fed. Cir. 2004). This court reviews without deference a district court s grant of summary judgment, reapplying the same standard as the district court. Micro Chem., Inc. v. Lextron, Inc., 318 F.3d 1119, 1121 (Fed. Cir. 2003). We must determine whether the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that 2007-1409, -1436 7 the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). Availability of lost profits is a question of law reviewed without deference. Micro Chem., 318 F.3d at 1122 (citing Rite-Hite Corp. v. Kelley Co., 56 F.3d 1538, 1544 (Fed. Cir. 1995) (en banc)); see also Poly-America, 383 F.3d at 1311 ( Whether lost profits are legally compensable in a particular situation is a question of law that we review de novo. ). Mars argues that Poly-America does not preclude a parent from recovering the lost profits of its wholly owned subsidiary, and that the consolidated financial statements prove that all MEI s lost profits were inherently lost profits of Mars. Appellant s Br. 18. Coinco responds by arguing that Mars cannot meet the manufacturing and marketing capability element of the Panduit lost profits test, and that the record does not support Mars s theory that all profits inherently flowed to Mars from MEI. Micro Chem., 318 F.3d at 1124. There is no dispute that MEI s lost sales may have caused harm to Mars. See, e.g., Mars, 2006 WL 2927239, at *5 (acknowledging the economic reality that a parent corporation loses money when its wholly owned subsidiary loses money). The dispute is whether that harm is compensable under a lost profits theory. Patent infringement is a tort. Schillinger v. United States, 155 U.S. 163, 196 (1894). inquiring: In patent cases, as in other commercial torts, damages are measured by had the tortfeasor not committed the wrong, what would have been the financial position of the person wronged? Brooktree Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 977 F.2d 1555, 1579 (Fed. Cir. 1992); see also Aro Mfg. Co. v. Convertible Top Replacement Co., 377 U.S. 476, 507 (1964) (stating damages analysis as assessing had the Infringer not infringed, what would the [Patentee] have made? ). 2007-1409, -1436 8 Damages in patent infringement cases are governed by 35 U.S.C. § 284: Upon finding for the claimant the court shall award the claimant damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention by the infringer, together with interest and costs as fixed by the court. 35 U.S.C. § 284. [W]hile the statutory text states tersely that the patentee receive adequate damages, the Supreme Court has interpreted this to mean that adequate damages should approximate those damages that will fully compensate the patentee for infringement. Rite-Hite, 56 F.3d at 1545 (emphasis in the original). In enacting § 284, Congress sought to ensure that the patent owner would in fact receive full compensation for any damages he suffered as a result of the infringement. Gen. Motors Corp. v. Devex Corp., 461 U.S. 648, 654-55 (1983); see also Fromson v. W. Litho Plate & Supply Co., 853 F.2d 1658 (Fed. Cir. 1988) ( The statute, 35 U.S.C. § 284, mandates that damages shall be adequate to compensate the patent owner for the infringement. That requirement parallels the criterion long applicable in other fields of law. ), overruled on other grounds by Knorr-Bremse Systeme Fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH v. Dana Corp., 383 F.3d 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (en banc). Despite the broad damages language of § 284, patentees tend to try to fit their damages cases into the lost profits framework, or else fall back on the statutory grant of a reasonable royalty. See, e.g., 7 Donald S. Chisum, Chisum on Patents § 20.01 (2005) ( The three traditional modes of measuring compensatory damages are lost profits, established royalty, and reasonable royalty. ); Herbert F. Schwartz, Patent Law and Practice, 212 (5th ed. 2006) ( The two traditional measures of monetary damages awarded under 35 U.S.C. §284 are lost profits and royalties . . . . ). But while lost profits is plainly one way to measure the amount of damages that will fully compensate the 2007-1409, -1436 9 patentee under § 284, we have never held that it is the only one. The assessment of adequate damages under section 284 does not limit the patent holder to the amount of diverted sales of a commercial embodiment of the patented product. Minco, Inc. v. Combustion Eng g, Inc., 95 F.3d 1109, 1118 (Fed. Cir. 1996); see also Rite-Hite, 56 F.3d at 1544 ( [T]he language of the statute is expansive rather than limiting. It affirmatively states that damages must be adequate, while providing only a lower limit and no other limitation. (emphasis added)). We have previously recognized that patentees may be entitled to damages above a reasonable royalty on theories entirely distinct from lost profits. See, e.g., Minco, 95 F.3d at 1120 (recognizing that the patentee might have been entitled to damages as a result of overpaying for the infringer s business, if it had proven that the infringing products were an important factor in the sale). Nevertheless, Mars expressly elected to pursue only lost profits and reasonable royalty theories, and it stipulated that it would not seek any other damages other than lost profits or a reasonable royalty. J.A. 2268.2 (Stipulation Concerning Damages, Doc. No. 321, Feb. 3, 2006). Mars is bound by this stipulation. Thus, we need not determine whether Mars would have been entitled to recover under any other damages theory for the economic injury that it suffered as a result of MEI s lost sales. The correct measure of damages is a highly case-specific and fact-specific analysis. See Herbert v. Lisle Corp., 99 F.3d 1109, 1119 (Fed. Cir. 1996) ( The adequacy of the damages measure depends on the circumstances of each case. ); Rite-Hite, 56 F.3d at 1546 ( The general principles expressed in the common law tell us that the question of legal compensability is one to be determined on the facts of each 2007-1409, -1436 10 case upon mixed considerations of logic, common sense, justice, policy and precedent. (citing 1 Street, Foundations of Legal Liability 110 (1906))). Mars claims that, by virtue of the parent-subsidiary relationship and its consolidated financial statements, all MEI s lost profits were inherently lost profits of Mars. Appellant s Br. 18 (emphasis added); see also id. at 2 ( The parent company here Mars was inherently damaged by the infringement injury to its 100% owned subsidiary MEI through that ownership and their consolidated financial statements. (emphasis added)); Mars, 2006 WL 2927239, at *5 ( Mars seeks to distinguish PolyAmerica based on the corporate structure between itself and MEI and on the theory that MEI s profits flowed inexorably to Mars, thus permitting Mars to recover the lost profits that MEI would have made absent infringement. (emphasis added)). But, as the district court concluded, the facts do not support this claim. The uncontradicted testimony of Mars s Corporate Tax Director, Thomas Cornell, shows that Mars and MEI had a traditional royalty-bearing license agreement. MEI paid Mars a royalty [b]ased on gross sales value of MEI s products that use Mars s patented technology, and MEI was required to make those royalty payments whether or not it made any profit. J.A. 4131. Mars identified no record evidence that it ever received or recognized any form of profit or revenue from MEI apart from these royalty payments. Cf. Mars, 2006 WL 2927239, at *6 (quoting testimony of Mr. Cornell that he was not sure whether MEI ever paid any profits to Mars and concluding that Mr. Cornell did not say, as Mars argues, that profits flow inexorably from MEI to Mars ). Thus, Mars s claim that it inherently lost profits when MEI lost profits is unsupported by the 2007-1409, -1436 11 record, as the district court correctly concluded. The district court was correct to grant summary judgment on this basis. Because we conclude that MEI s profits did not as Mars argued flow inexorably to Mars, we, like the Poly-America court, need not decide whether a parent company can recover on a lost profits theory when profits of a subsidiary actually do flow inexorably up to the parent. See Poly-America, 383 F.3d at 1311 ( [I]t is not clear here whether Poly-America has itself suffered lost profits from the infringement, a matter that may be dealt with on remand . . . . ) We hold simply that the facts of this case cannot support recovery under a lost profits theory. B. MEI s Standing (Prior to 1996) The district court denied as futile Mars s motion to amend its complaint to add MEI as a co-plaintiff for infringement that occurred prior to 1996. Specifically, the district court held that the motion would be futile because MEI lacked standing prior to 1996, when it was neither the owner nor the exclusive licensee of either of the patents-in-suit. Mars appeals, claiming that MEI was an implied and de facto exclusive licensee. Our review is de novo. See Rite-Hite, 56 F.3d 1538, 1551 ( The question of standing to sue is a jurisdictional one, which we review de novo. (citations omitted)). Only a patent owner or an exclusive licensee can have constitutional standing to bring an infringement suit; a non-exclusive licensee does not. Sicom Sys., Ltd. v. Agilent Techs., Inc., 427 F.3d 971, 976 (Fed. Cir. 2005) ( A nonexclusive license confers no constitutional standing on the licensee to bring suit or even to join a suit with the patentee because a nonexclusive licensee suffers no legal injury from infringement. (internal citations omitted)); Schreiber Foods, 402 F.3d at 1202-03 ( It is well-settled that non-exclusive licensees do not have constitutional standing to sue. ). This standing 2007-1409, -1436 12 deficiency cannot be cured by adding the patent title owner to the suit. Morrow v. Microsoft Corp., 499 F.3d 1332, 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2007). It is undisputed that MEI did not own either of the patents-in-suit prior to 1996. The issue is only whether MEI was an exclusive licensee. To be an exclusive licensee for standing purposes, a party must have received, not only the right to practice the invention within a given territory, but also the patentee s express or implied promise that others shall be excluded from practicing the invention within that territory as well. Rite-Hite, 56 F.3d at 1552. By the same token, if the patentee allows others to practice the patent in the licensee s territory, then the licensee is not an exclusive licensee. In the 1996 Agreements, Mars and MEI agreed that Mars was the owner of the patents-in-suit: [Mars] Incorporated currently owns . . . a substantial number of patents and patent applications, which existed at 31 December 1995, relating to Covered Products [defined as currency note acceptors and coin exchange mechanisms and other electronics products ] manufactured and sold by MEI-UK ( Covered Intellectual Property ) . . . . J.A. 4944. In the same document, Mars made clear that MEI-UK a separate corporate entity from either Mars or MEI previously had and would continue to have a license to practice the patents-in-suit: MEI-UK will continue to have a non-exclusive right to exploit, in the conduct of its business, the Covered Intellectual Property in any country of the world in exchange for a royalty payable to Incorporated . . . . Id. Thus, prior to 1996, MEI-UK had a license: the right to practice the patents-in-suit in any country of the world (including the United States), in exchange for a royalty payment. MEI cannot have been Mars s exclusive United States licensee, when the terms of the 1996 Agreements make clear that Mars had allowed MEI-UK to practice 2007-1409, -1436 13 the patents in the United States. The deposition testimony of Mars s Corporate Tax Director confirmed MEI-UK s rights under its license from Mars. See J.A. 4130 ( Q. Were there instances where MEI-U.K. could make a product such as a coin changer and import that product into the United States for delivery to MEI, Inc.? A. That could happen, sure. ). MEI was not, therefore, the exclusive licensee to the patents-in-suit in the United States prior to 1996. It consequently lacked constitutional standing. See, e.g., PolyAmerica, 383 F.3d at 1311 ( [The licensee] does not have exclusive rights. It is clearly identified in the license agreement as a non-exclusive licensee, and as such, it received only a bare license and has no entitlement under the patent statutes to itself collect lost profits damages for any losses it incurred due to infringement. ); Rite-Hite, 56 F.3d at 1553 ( Most particularly, the [licensees] had no right under the agreements to exclude anyone from making, using, or selling the claimed invention. The [licensees] could not exclude from their respective territories other [licensees], third parties, or even [the patentee] itself. ). Because we find that MEI was not an exclusive licensee as a result of Mars s license to MEI-UK, we need not consider the effect of the other licenses identified by Coinco or the district court. See Mars, 2006 WL 2927239, at *3-4. C. Mars s Standing (1996-2003) The district court held that the 1996 Agreements transferred ownership of the 719 patent 1 to MEI and therefore deprived Mars of standing to recover damages on sales from 1996 to 2003. Mars, 2006 WL 2927240, at *8. However, applying the logic of this court s decision in Schreiber Foods, the district court held that Mars could cure its 1 The 137 patent expired prior to 1996. Mars, 2006 WL 2927240, at *6. Only the 719 patent is at issue in the 1996-2003 timeframe. 2007-1409, -1436 14 lack of standing by the imminent transfer back to Mars of the rights to the . . . 719 patent[] before final judgment. Id. Though the record is not clear on this point, it appears that the district court treated the Confirmation Agreement as satisfying Schreiber Foods by transferring all of the rights in the 719 patent back to Mars prior to final judgment, thus restoring Mars s standing to recover damages from 1996 to 2003. The district court thus applied its royalty rate to a base that included Coinco sales both prior to 1996, and from 1996 to 2003. On appeal, Coinco argues that Mars failed to recover standing because: (1) the Confirmation Agreement transferred only the right to sue not title to the 719 patent; and (2) the transfer was after final judgment. Our review of this question of standing is de novo. See Rite-Hite, 56 F.3d at 1551. Preliminarily, we note that both parties have confused the record by taking positions here that are seemingly contradictory to positions taken before the district court as to the interpretation and effect of the Confirmation Agreement. When addressing MEI s standing at the district court, Coinco argued that the Confirmation Agreement transferred back to Mars all of MEI s rights, presumably including title. See J.A. 3242 ( The 2006 Coinco Confirmation Agreement . . . purports to transfer MEI s entire rights to damages for infringement in the 719 Patent, including damages for past infringement, to Mars, Incorporated. ); J.A. 3913 ( From the four corners of that particular document, it is clear to Coinco and we believe should be clear to the court that whatever rights that MEI had with respect to the 719 patent, at least according to that document, have been transferred to Mars, Inc. ). Now, Coinco argues that the Confirmation Agreement did not transfer title back to Mars. See Cross Appellant s Br. 2007-1409, -1436 15 30 ( Mars did not have standing to assert the 719 Patent after January 1, 1996, because unlike Schreiber Foods Mars never regained title to the patent. ). Mars is equally guilty of changing positions. At the district court and in some sections of its opening brief here, Mars argued that the Confirmation Agreement transferred ownership (presumably meaning title) from MEI to Mars. See Appellant s Br. 15 ( Mars sold MEI as of June 19, 2006 and regained full ownership of the 137 and 719 patents, including the right to sue for past infringement. ) But at oral argument, Mars claimed that the Confirmation Agreement did not and could not transfer title, because Mars never gave up title in the first place. Oral Arg. at 13:52-14:12, available at http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/oralarguments/mp3/2007-1409.mp3 ( The Confirmation Agreement does not transfer title . . . . ). Because this is a question of standing and our review is de novo, see Rite-Hite, 56 F.3d at 1551, we will independently evaluate the effect of the 1996 Agreements and the Confirmation Agreement on the ownership of the 719 patent, notwithstanding the apparently contradictory representations of both parties. [T]he plaintiff in an [infringement] action . . . must be the person or persons in whom the legal title to the patent resided at the time of the infringement. Crown Die & Tool Co. v. Nye Tool & Mach. Works, 261 U.S. 24, 40 (1923) (quoting 3 Robinson on Patents § 937); Rite-Hite, 56 F.3d at 1551 ( Generally, one seeking money damages for patent infringement must have held legal title to the patent at the time of the infringement. ) Likewise, the procedure described in Schreiber requires a patentee to reacquire title to a patent to correct the jurisdictional defect that arises when the plaintiff loses title to the patent during the litigation. See Schreiber, 402 F.3d at 1204 ( Here 2007-1409, -1436 16 Schreiber reacquired its stake in the litigation by reacquiring the 860 patent (and causes of action thereunder) before the entry of judgment. The jurisdictional defect that had existed was cured before the entry of judgment and thus the judgment was not void. (emphasis added)). We must therefore determine whether the 1996 Agreements transferred title of the 719 patent from Mars to MEI, and, if so, whether the Confirmation Agreement transferred title back from MEI to Mars. Construction of patent assignment agreements is a matter of state contract law. Minco, 95 F.3d at 1117. By their terms, the 1996 Agreements are governed by Delaware law. In Delaware: Under standard rules of contract interpretation, a court must determine the intent of the parties from the language of the contract. A determination of that kind will sometimes require the court to decide whether or not the disputed contract language is ambiguous. Contract language is ambiguous if it is reasonably susceptible of two or more interpretations or may have two or more different meanings. Where no ambiguity exists, the contract will be interpreted according to the ordinary and usual meaning of its terms. Twin City Fire Ins. Co. v. Del. Racing Ass n, 840 A.2d 624, 628 (Del. 2003) (footnotes and internal quotation marks omitted). The relevant language of the 1996 Agreements is: [Mars] Incorporated hereby transfers to MEI-US its entire interest in the Covered Intellectual Property that relates to the business of the Parties. J.A. 4942. We see nothing ambiguous about this language. A transfer of the entire interest of a patentee in a patent is well known to mean a full assignment of the patent i.e., transfer of title. See, e.g., Littlefield v. Perry, 88 U.S. 205, 219 (1874) ( [The] power of assignment has been so construed by the courts as to confine it to the transfer of an entire patent, an undivided part thereof, or the entire interest of the patentee or undivided part thereof within and throughout a certain 2007-1409, -1436 17 specified portion of the United States. One holding such an assignment is an assignee within the meaning of the statute, and may prosecute in the Circuit Court any action that may be necessary for the protection of his rights under the patent. (emphasis added)). Thus, giving the ordinary and usual meaning to the terms of this clause of the 1996 Agreements, we find that intent of the parties was to transfer title to the 719 patent from Mars to MEI. Like the district court, we therefore conclude that Mars lacked standing as of 1996. Mars, 2006 WL 2927240, at *8. We next turn to the Confirmation Agreement to determine whether it transferred title to the 719 patent back to Mars. 2 The Confirmation Agreement is governed by New York law. In New York, [t]he words and phrases used by the parties must, as in all cases involving contract interpretation, be given their plain meaning . . . . Brooke Group Ltd. v. JCH Syndicate, 663 N.E.2d 635, 638 (N.Y. 1996). Moreover, it is common practice for the courts [of New York] to refer to the dictionary to determine the plain and ordinary meaning of words to a contract. Mazzola v. County of Suffolk, 533 N.Y.S.2d 297, 297 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988). Mars cites paragraph A of the recitals as the portion of the agreement effecting a transfer of rights, but paragraph A contains nothing but a general description of the subject matter of the purchase agreement. Paragraph 1 appears to be the paragraph that most closely resembles a transfer of title. It states: Mars and the Buyer [MEI] do hereby acknowledge that Mars owns and retains the right to sue for past infringement of the Litigation Patents. To the extent that MEI may have or claim any rights in or to any past 2 Though the Confirmation Agreement refers to a purchase agreement between Mars and its subsidiaries, the purchase agreement was not made part of the record either before the district court or before us. The only evidence that Mars cites for any transfer of rights from MEI to Mars in 2006 is the Confirmation Agreement itself. 2007-1409, -1436 18 infringement of the Litigation Patents or any recovery therefor, upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Purchase Agreement, MEI hereby does irrevocably assign all such rights to Mars. J.A. 3177-78 (emphases added). The first sentence of paragraph 1 describes an acknowledgement i.e., a recognition of rights that the contracting parties believed had already been transferred. See, e.g., 1 Oxford English Dictionary 108 (2d ed. 1989) (defining acknowledge as 1. To own the knowledge of; to confess; to recognize or admit as true. . . . 3. To own as genuine, or of legal force or validity; to own, avow, or assent, in legal form, to (an act, document, etc.) so as to give it validity ); Webster s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged 17 (2002) (defining acknowledge as 1 : to show by word or act that one has knowledge of and agrees to (a fact or truth) . . . 2 a : to show by word or act that one has knowledge of and respect for the rights, claims, authority or status of . . . : recognize, honor, or respect esp. publicly ). It did not purport to be a transfer itself. 3 The second sentence of paragraph 1 does describe an actual transfer MEI hereby does irrevocably assign all such rights to Mars. J.A. 3178. But the antecedent of such rights is any rights in or to any past infringement of the Litigation Patents or any recovery therefor. J.A. 3177-78. This is an assignment of the right to sue for past infringement, not an assignment of title. See Morrow, 499 F.3d at 1342 (holding that 3 In fact, the title of the Confirmation Agreement COINCO CONFIRMATION AGREEMENT itself suggests that the agreement was meant primarily to acknowledge an understanding of an earlier agreement, rather than to transfer ownership of property. J.A. 3177. See, e.g., 3 Oxford English Dictionary 710 (2d ed. 1989) (defining confirmation as 1. The action of making firm or sure . . . . . 2. The action of confirming or ratifying by some additional legal form ); id. at 709 (defining confirm as 2. To make valid by formal authoritative assent (a thing already instituted or ordained); to ratify, sanction ). 2007-1409, -1436 19 transfer of right to sue for past infringement does not convey title or standing in infringement action). The 1996 Agreements make clear that MEI and Mars knew how to transfer title when they intended to do so. We see no provision in the Confirmation Agreement that transfers title to the 719 patent back to Mars. Finally, we reject Mars s argument that because the right to sue for past infringement is the only remaining right[] in an expired patent, a transfer of the right to sue is effectively the same as a transfer of title. Appellant s Reply Br. 15. Title to a patent even an expired patent includes more than merely the right to recover damages for past infringement. Moreover, the transfer of the right to sue for past infringement divorced from title creates a risk of unnecessary third-party litigation, whether or not the patent has expired. See Crown Die, 261 U.S. at 39 (expressing disfavor toward separate transfer of right to sue, because it would stir up litigation by third persons that is certainly contrary to the purpose and spirit of the statutory provisions for the assigning of patents ). We conclude that the Confirmation Agreement did not transfer title and that Mars lacks standing for the period from 1996 to 2003. 4 We therefore need not decide whether the Confirmation Agreement took effect before or after final judgment for purposes of Schreiber. D. Reasonable Royalty After a four-day damages trial, the district court determined that a reasonable royalty was a blended royalty rate of 7% for both patents. The district court weighed the 4 Neither the parties to this appeal nor MEI have challenged the district court s determination that MEI lacks standing for the period between 1996 and 2003. We do not address that issue here. 2007-1409, -1436 20 Georgia-Pacific factors and issued a forty-six page oral opinion explaining its rationale in arriving at the 7% rate. Coinco principally challenges three aspects of the district court s analysis. First, Coinco argues that the district court erred by awarding a reasonable royalty rate higher than the cost to Coinco of implementing acceptable noninfringing alternatives. Second, Coinco argues that the reasonable royalty rate could not exceed 4%, in light of Mars s representations to Inland Revenue. Finally, Coinco claims that the district court erred by relying on Coinco s incremental profit, rather than its operating profit, to calculate a reasonable royalty. In reviewing damages awards in patent cases, we give broad deference to the conclusions reached by the finder of fact. Monsanto Co. v. McFarling, 488 F.3d 973, 981 (Fed. Cir. 2007). We review a district court s damages decision for an erroneous conclusion of law, clearly erroneous factual findings, or a clear error of judgment amounting to an abuse of discretion. Rite Hite, 56 F.3d at 1543-44. More particularly, in a reasonable royalty calculation, we review the methodology (i.e., accounting method) for damages for an abuse of discretion and the damage amount for clear error. Micro Chem., 318 F.3d at 1122 (citing SmithKline Diagnostics, Inc. v. Helena Labs. Corp., 926 F.2d 1161, 1164 n.2 (Fed. Cir. 1991)). 1. Noninfringing Alternatives The heart of Coinco s first argument is that an infringer should not be required to pay more in reasonable royalty damages than it would have paid to avoid infringement in the first place by switching to an available noninfringing alternative. This claim fails for two reasons. First, Coinco is simply wrong to suggest that the district court found that there were available, acceptable, noninfringing alternatives. What the district court 2007-1409, -1436 21 found was that Coinco had the ability, the resources, and the desire to design around Mars patents, that it could probably figure out a way to avoid infringement, but that the available design around was not as good as it would like. J.A. 125, 128, 130. There was, therefore, no available and acceptable noninfringing alternative to which Coinco could have switched at the time of the hypothetical negotiation; there was merely the possibility that it could have come up with one. Second, even if Coinco had shown that it had an acceptable noninfringing alternative at the time of the hypothetical negotiation, Coinco is wrong as a matter of law to claim that reasonable royalty damages are capped at the cost of implementing the cheapest available, acceptable, noninfringing alternative. We have previously considered and rejected such an argument. See Montsanto Co. v. Ralph, 382 F.3d 1374, 1383 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (rejecting infringer s argument that a reasonable royalty deduced through a hypothetical negotiation process can never be set so high that no rational self-interested wealth-maximizing infringer acting ex ante would ever have agreed to it ). To the contrary, an infringer may be liable for damages, including reasonable royalty damages, that exceed the amount that the infringer could have paid to avoid infringement. The district court considered the potential availability of noninfringing alternatives, found that Coinco did not have but probably could have designed an acceptable alternative, and reduced the blended royalty rate accordingly, from 11.5% to 7%. Using a calculation methodology that did not limit Mars s damages to the cost of its least expensive noninfringing alternative was not an abuse of discretion, and the resulting 7% royalty rate was not clearly erroneous. 2007-1409, -1436 22 2. Representation to Inland Revenue Next, Coinco argues that the district court erred by ignoring Mars s purported admission that a royalty over 4% was excessive. The 1996 Agreements between Mars and its subsidiaries include a clause that states: For the years 1990-1995, the parties agree that the historical royalty payment with respect to the Covered Intellectual Property was excessive to the extent it exceeded a net royalty of 4% after taking into account product development recovery . . . . J.A. 4945. Coinco argues that this clause indicates Mars s belief that any royalty rate for all of Mars s patents (including the patents-in-suit) would be excessive if it were above 4%. The district court found that the 4% rate was only minimally relevant for two reasons: (1) because it was the result of negotiations with United Kingdom taxing authorities, not an arm s length transaction ; and (2) because [i]t is certainly not a license between competitors, as the license in the hypothetical negotiation between Mars and Coinco would be. J.A. 123. We see no error. The district court was plainly correct to conclude that the terms in an intra-company license agreement made to satisfy the requirements of the United Kingdom taxing authorities are likely to be very different from those resulting from a hypothetical negotiation between competitors. While Coinco may be correct that the United Kingdom taxing authorities requested that the license rate be one that simulates the rate that would have been reached in an arm s-length negotiation between independent enterprises, there is no evidence that suggested that the 4% rate would have been the rate at which Mars would have licensed a competitor. See J.A. 129-30 (district court reasoning that it would be economically suicidal for Mars to license the competitor of its subsidiary). Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion by 2007-1409, -1436 23 refusing to cap the reasonable royalty rate at the 4% rate referred to in the 1996 Agreements. 3. Incremental Profits The district court found that the market for coin changers was very profitable. J.A. 123. In reaching this conclusion, the district court relied on the incremental profit rather than operating profit of both Mars and Coinco. Coinco argues that this was error. We disagree. We have never held that any one profit accounting methodology is appropriate in all industries, for all companies, in all cases. The selection of the appropriate method of profit accounting in the circumstances is properly left to the broad discretion of the district court. Here, the district court heard competing expert testimony and found that a profitability analysis based on incremental profits was appropriate. We defer to that finding. See, e.g., Monsanto, 488 F.3d at 981. Moreover, we reject Coinco s argument that a reasonable royalty can never result in an infringer operating at a loss. [A]lthough an infringer s anticipated profit from use of the patented invention is [a]mong the factors to be considered in determining a reasonable royalty, see Georgia-Pacific, 318 F. Supp. at 1120, the law does not require that an infringer be permitted to make a profit. Montsanto, 382 F.3d at 1384. See also State Indus., Inc. v. Mor-Flo Indus., Inc., 883 F.2d 1573, 1580 (Fed. Cir. 1989) ( There is no rule that a royalty be no higher than the infringer s net profit margin. ). *** We have considered Coinco s other arguments challenging the 7% royalty rate. Each of its other arguments concerns the weight that the district court gave to specific facts. We decline Coinco s inappropriate invitation to reweigh the damages evidence. 2007-1409, -1436 24 Cybor Corp. v. FAS Techs., Inc., 138 F.3d 1448, 1461 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (en banc) ( [W]e conclude that the district court weighed the evidence before it in an appropriate fashion. We decline [the cross appellant s] inappropriate invitation that we essentially reweigh the record evidence. ). Accordingly, we affirm the district court s assessment of a 7% reasonable royalty rate. Because Mars s lack of standing for the period from 1996 to 2003 changes the royalty base, we must remand for recalculation of damages using the 7% rate. III. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court s summary judgment excluding Mars s lost profits claim. Because MEI lacked standing prior to 1996, we affirm the district court s denial of Mars s motion for leave to amend. However, we reverse the district court s determination that Mars had standing to recover damages for the period from 1996 to 2003. We affirm the district court s assessment of a 7% reasonable royalty rate, and we remand for recalculation of damages for the period prior to 1996 and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. AFFIRMED-IN-PART, REVERSED-IN-PART, AND REMANDED. COSTS Each party shall bear its own costs. 2007-1409, -1436 25
of Federal Circuit opinions.


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The next few years will be critical for the information technology staff, as they attempt to integrate and manage multiple, diverse hardware and software platforms. This article addresses how to meet this need, as users demand greater ability to analyze ever-growing mountains of data, and IT attempts to keep costs down.
Business Intelligence (BI) has matured over the past two decades. No longer are big data, data marts and data warehouses new environments requiring non-traditional staff skills and specialized hardware and software. Today, more and more data are being made available within the enterprise. Information technology (IT) departments have developed and installed multiple technology platforms to store the huge amounts of data that are rapidly created from both traditional operational systems and the new, complex, multi-structured data streams emanating from e-mails, audio and video clips, click streams, sensors and social media.
There are several types of analytics to execute against multiple categories of data. Each combination serves a different business purpose, and is best hosted using a particular hardware and software solution.
Much of early data processing concentrated on archived data. These were the precursors to the enterprise data warehouse; historical data stored in very large databases. These data were usually processed in either a standalone hardware environment or during the slow hour of the operational batch cycle when CPU, memory and disk storage were available. These resources could not be shared with operational systems due to a combination of factors: limitations in analytical software, relatively slow processor speeds, and the expense of maintaining large volumes of quickly-accessible data. Many times these archived data existed on tape, requiring either re-loading to disk for fast access, or sequential-only processing due to the physical limitations of tapes.
Despite its limitations, analyzing an archive provided the first use cases for discovering and exploring data relationships about the company's costs, customers, and products. And, as processors became faster and disk storage costs shrank, analysts were able to derive more and better predictions.
The challenges today with type 0 data are data availability and volume issues. The IT enterprise usually archives data for a reason; the data is either old or stale, and removing it allows for faster processing and analysis of the remaining data. Many departments will consider analysis of current data to be more relevant for discovering ways to lower costs, increase customer satisfaction or provide actionable intelligence. Meanwhile, analysis of archive data may be seen as too little, too late.
The next evolution of data analytics might be called classic big data. This data was large in volume, generated quickly by a growing number of operational systems, and transported across network with greater and greater speed. Initial big data applications concentrated on storing well-understood, structured data from operational systems in a combination of the enterprise data warehouse and a big data datastore. This was often accompanied by a hybrid hardware and software solution called an appliance that allowed for massive parallel processing of the data, and sometimes enhanced by user-friendly analytical software. The software allowed the analyst to ask what if? questions couched in business language without needing to know how the data was stored or how it was to be processed or retrieved. The software then converted the request into one or more queries that accessed the data, and the massively-parallel hardware provided speed of access. The result was fast queries against big data, thus permitting analysts to generate more queries and reports in a short period of time.
The challenge of early big data solutions were many. Their performance characteristics were poorly understood, with query speeds varying greatly across query types and across industries. Analytics was generally kept simple, as users struggled to understand results that were being presented to them for the first time. Finally, big data appliance solutions tended to be costly, limiting their application to enterprises that could afford them.
As time passed, appliances grew faster and larger and cheaper, and analytical software more sophisticated. Along with this the IT staff gained experience in both maintaining and tuning the solution, and analysts became more sophisticated in their query choices. Combined with the steadily declining costs of hardware resources, big data solutions have matured to the point that complex analyses against terabyte-sized datastores are now commonplace.
As operational systems matured, companies moved their applications closer to the customer. In-store kiosks, on-line ordering, and internet-based product catalogs became common. As a result, data about customer transactions was no longer generated solely in structured records and files from operational systems. Instead, the norm now is to expect web logs, social network data, click streams, machine sensors and other solutions to generate unstructured data. These data can then be analyzed in new ways such as reputation management or competitive intelligence gathering.
The challenge of this category of data is that it may require multiple distributions through multiple software levels in order to decode or understand. One phase may require parsing the data for errors or required data transformations, then converting the data to a semi-structured form such as eXtensible Markup Language (XML), or perhaps into raw text. Another phase may then analyze the semi-structured data for form and content relevant for analysis, and then forwarding the data to a datastore for advanced analysis.
The challenge of unstructured data is that each selection or manifestation of a data stream may require not only a one-time decision on how to process it, but also a unique hardware or software solution in order to analyze it.
Data in motion is the latest variation of big data processing. Here, data from customer transactions, product shipping and receiving, medical patient monitoring or hardware sensors is analyzed as it is generated, and the results used as part of the transaction. For example, if an on-line customer orders a product, the transaction may be analyzed before it completes by comparing to historical customer purchases in order to detect possible fraud. Analysis of multiple customer purchases may allow algorithms to derive product popularity in certain geographical areas, leading to possible price or shipping cost changes.
With multiple categories of big data and different analytical requirements, it is becoming clear that the IT enterprise must prepare for all of these by implementing multiple hardware and software solutions. These solutions need to be configured and optimized for the type of data they store and the complexity of the expected business analytics. Here are the most common solutions.
Appliances are hybrid hardware and software solutions that use massively parallel disk storage processing to provide quick answers to analytical queries. They are best used for structured data that is analyzed at rest. Some more advanced applications may use proprietary storage methods or database processes such as data compression to further reduce execution time. Although generally expensive, they can be scaled to fit the data required for the use cases IT determines will generate the best return on investment.
This software solution permits multiple computer nodes (sometimes thousands) to participate in data storage and retrieval and query processing. It includes a file system that manages multiple, disparate hardware platforms, several programming frameworks for managing the multiple servers, and additional file processing and workflow management systems. Hadoop is best used for unmodeled data where analysts can use exploratory queries, whose results can then be used for further analysis.
NoSQL database management systems are another option. These systems allow for storage of data amenable to graph analysis. Graph analysis is a method of linking data elements and relationships to allow analysis of things such as social networks or comparisons of multiple customer transactions across multiple time periods and geographies. Implementing a NoSQL solution is not easy, and requires highly-trained users who understand graphing analytics.
Multiple big data categories and analytical methods suggest that your IT infrastructure may require multiple big data application solutions. Each solution will begin as a specific, hybrid hardware and software solution that is customized for one or more use cases. Each mini-environment will attract its own combination of datastore administrators, data scientists, and business intelligence analysts. As each environment grows and matures the data stores will begin to overlap.
This usually begins with the enterprise data warehouse. The warehouse already contains dimensional data such as geographies, product categories, time dimensions, salesforce hierarchies, and the like. It is these dimensions that the analytical software will use for data aggregation, rollup, and drill-down against big data datastores.
The natural next step is the integration of these environments. Customer data may be gathered at the source or from operational systems and routed to one or more analytical platforms. This leads to the next phase in analytics: query routing. As an analyst enters a request, the software makes a decision as to which platform or big data solution is best suited for processing the query. To make this work, the IT staff first needs to ensure that big data application solutions are providing sufficient value added to the enterprise. This gives IT comfort in knowing that the solution will be retained, at least in the short term, which then allows designing the IT infrastructure for the massive data routing and storage required to support the idea of intelligent query routing.
With the coming explosion of big data applications and solution implementations, IT staff should step back and prepare for the next step: solution integration. As platforms grow and proliferate, users will tend to use business intelligence analytics software that supports their needs. This will lead to the requirement that such software is able to route the user's analytical queries to the platform most suitable to providing the best answer.


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Mesacanthion primitivum är en rundmaskart. Mesacanthion primitivum ingår i släktet Mesacanthion, och familjen Enoplidae. Arten är reproducerande i Sverige.

Källor

Rundmaskar
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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To find organizations who may benefit from my knowledge and work experience, and who have an interest in improving their levels of service to customers through the use of improved systmes, processes and the technologies supporting these goals.
Creative DevOps architect and designer with the skills necessary to design, implement and improve systems and processes with the end result of improved delivery for application functionality as well as providing for more stable applications. Experience includes working with development, architecture, systems engineering, operations, network engineering, storage, database and systems teams to create and execute effective processes to this end.
Deep experience in many technologies to include systems, networking, databases, storage, applications, architecture and design. Experience includes designing and implementing advanced monitoring and automation systems for integrated, heterogeneous environments, as well as planning, designing and implementing several high-availability datacenters throughout the U.S. and U.K. Creative, competent thinker with a passion for devising strong and simple solutions.
Manage the technical relationship with Construction Logistics division of Trimble, an internal customer of THS. This includes incident and risk management, availability reporting, architecture and design, and program and project management.
Currently designing improvements for systems and processes that will improve application availability and have a positive impact on delivery.
Successfully completed a project to migrate customer stacks to a new datacenter and virtual environment.
Provide automation tools and processes to streamline deployments and management for the customer.
Review and modify monitoring to increase automation (self-healing), reduce false-positives, and clarify alerts and troubleshooting/escalation documentation.
Focused mostly on architecture and design.
Designed, implemented and managed the virtual infrastructure worldwide, implemented standardization and automation processes for this virtual infrastructure.
Designed and built datacenters in the UK. Created cable management and labelling standards at this time.
Implemented VMware LabManager, then vCloud director to provide self-service virtualization for the development and QA teams.
Acted as co-project manager for the move of the company's primary datacenter into a collocation facility; designed the physical network infrastructure, rack layout and power usage and management.
Designed and implemented enterprise-wide monitoring for all company systems, databases, network infrastructure and applications, using NetIQ AppManager, HP SiteScope, BAC, Real User Monitor, and Business Process Monitor.
Wrote and integrated custom applications for monitoring and alerting as well as for scheduled maintenance windows.
Developed scripts and application to improve the efficiency of the team, automate redundant or recurring administration tasks and provide more customized monitoring and alerting.
Supported Costar ASP.NET and C# applications; implemented automation for application releases.
Successful growth of the team from supporting 8 applications to support of over 40 applications.
Improved batch processing success rate from less than 90% to 99.5%.
Created a PERL CGI interface for managing the Autosys job scheduling application.


text:
Planned Event
RC WEST
Total casualties 1
Host nation killed 1
41SMS3502807666
OTHER ANP 1 ANP KIA
On 31DEC06, ANP reported that the Khahi Safed District police station was confirmed to have been attacked and damaged on 31DEC06 and that the police chief and one bodyguard were kidnapped and remain missing. In addition, the District Governors office was also burned and ransacked along with the UN-CHA office. At the time of the incident, it appears that the chief and two men were present at the station. ANP reportedly responded to the police station with a 50-60 man QRF force on 31DEC06 at approximately 2300 and reoccupied the police station without resistance. ANP also reported conducting area searches for insurgents until 010500JAN07 with negative results. ANP currently has 15 men at the police station and will be sending 10 additional men. ANA also responded to the Police Station and assisted in re-establishing phone and radio communications. ANP reports the following equipment missing from the police station: 1 US 9mm 3 Russian AK-47s 2 Hungarian AK-47s 2 Chech AK-47s 1 RPG7 1 PK-m 1 Mortar 1 Greno machine gun (similar to PK) 1 ICOM radio 1 4wd vehicle an unspecified amount of ammo Local elders report witnessing the attack and subsequent abduction of the police chief. Insurgents were reportedly operating 5 Toyota Corollas containing approximately 30 suspected Taliban. The group was reported to be led by and individual who is described as being a former Khaki Safed resident now living in Khost. ANP has requested assistance from the local elders in obtaining information regarding the location of insurgents and the missing police chief. (Update to prior reporting) In addition to previously reported information, NDS is reporting that the body of the police chief was discovered North of Khaki Safed, in the village of Qullallah Khursh Kabad by local residents. NDS advised that the police chief was apparently shot then thrown from a moving vehicle. Local residents who discovered the body are acquainted with the family and positively identified the remains. ANP will recover the body and transfer it to the family. NDS has identified three individuals as having carried out the assault. NDS advised that contrary to earlier reporting only one bodyguard was taken with the chief and he is still unaccounted for. This event is related to #22691