By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

Mitsubishi filed an antitrust lawsuit Thursday against General Electric Co., accusing the company of monopolizing part of the wind-turbine market and making "baseless" patent-infringement claims against Mitsubishi to gain a competitive edge.

The suit was filed in federal court in Arkansas, where Mitsubishi plans a $100 million wind turbine manufacturing plant. But the company said in its suit that GE's "improper conduct" is jeopardizing the plant's future because there is now little U.S. demand for Mitsubishi turbines.

"If GE is successful in its campaign to drive Mitsubishi out of the variable-speed wind turbine market, then our facility will have to sit idle," said Sonia Williams, counsel and spokeswoman for Mitsubishi. Construction on the plant is to begin in the fall and the plant is expected to build its first turbine in 2011.

Mitsubishi did not specify the damages it is seeking but said Thursday the amount would likely be more than $1 billion. The suit claims that GE's patents are invalid and that the company filed "sham lawsuits" as a marketing tool against Mitsubishi.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

International Business Machines Corp. was named in a complaint in the European Union over claims it is blocking consumer access to open-source mainframe software developed by Paris-based TurboHercules SAS.

IBM, the world’s biggest provider of computer services, is preventing customers from using a so-called mainframe emulator known as Hercules, by tying its mainframe operating system to IBM hardware, closely held TurboHercules said in a statement.

“This conduct prevents TurboHercules from providing its product to mainframe customers desiring an open-source solution,” TurboHercules Chairman Roger Bowler, who developed Hercules, said today.

The Brussels-based European Commission, which polices antitrust rules in the 27-nation EU, last year imposed a record 1.06 billion-euro ($1.43 billion) fine against Intel Corp., while Microsoft Corp. in December agreed to give consumers a choice among Web browsers to avoid an EU fine.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.