EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Compiled by Mike Mason
TECHNOLOGY
Shares of Aliso Viejo-based Smith Micro Software Corp. rose 47% to 2.8 after Verizon Wireless said it will use Smith Micro software for its cell phone service that provides high-speed Internet links … Shares of Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp. fell 37% to 3.9 after a judge ruled that the validity of some key patents held by the company needed to be studied further. Acacia has sued a number of Internet and cable TV companies, arguing they violate its video transmission technology. The ruling could weaken Acacia’s lawsuits … Irvine-based Island Pacific Inc. said three board members resigned. The software maker also said it had raised $7 million to pay off debt and use for working capital. Meanwhile, Island Pacific said it licensed its merchandising management software to Morgantown, W. Va.-based Gabriel Brothers Inc. Terms weren’t disclosed … Aliso Viejo’s Fax.com sued several individuals and one company, Buena Park’s Legacy Farms, who had previously sued Fax.com for sending unsolicited faxes. Fax.com claims the defendants set up a Web site detailing how others can sue the company, which it says is an unauthorized practice of law.
HEALTHCARE
Shares of Irvine-based Allergan Inc. fell 6% to 76.8 after a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel rejected its treatment for psoriasis, Tazoral. Regulators said the drug could cause birth defects if used by pregnant women, and that the benefits of the drug were too small considering the risks. The drug was expected to eventually generate about $250 million in annual sales. Allergan said it would try to address the panel’s criticisms.
REAL ESTATE
Los Alamitos and Cypress settled a dispute over the Cottonwood Christian Center development. Cypress agreed to make roadway changes in anticipation of more traffic that results from the church campus, which is set to be built on 28 acres of a former golf course in Cypress. The deal allows development of a Costco to move ahead.
ENERGY
Irvine-based Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. won a contract from a “major automotive manufacturer” to develop a hydrogen fuel system for its fuel cell vehicle program. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed … Tustin-based Cherokee International said Chairman Pat Patel plans to step down this week. Patel retired as chief executive of Cherokee in 2001. Director Ian Schapiro will replace Patel on an interim basis while the company looks for a permanent chairman.
GOVERNMENT
Private giving to University of California, Irvine rose 16% to $66.4 million in the 2004 school year. UCI, which received a record 18,398 gifts, said the private giving total was the university’s second highest ever.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Newport Beach-based The Irvine Company opened a three-level, 1,037-space parking garage to help ease parking woes at the Irvine Spectrum Center. Another parking garage with 2,550 spaces is set to open late next year. Meanwhile, Rock Bottom Brewery and Sing Sing piano bar closed at the Spectrum … Shares of Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. fell 15% to 10.6 after the sunglass maker warned that production shortfalls on popular models, weaker-than-expected demand for new sunglasses and slumping foreign sales would lead to a shortfall in profits forecast for this year … Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. said it won a contract worth $570 million for work on the Long Lake project, an oil sands venture between OPTI Canada Inc. and Nexen Canada Ltd. Fluor booked the contract in its second quarter … The International Music Products Association signed a six-year pact with the Anaheim Convention Center to hold its annual NAMM show in Anaheim through 2010. NAMM is the largest trade show held at the Anaheim Convention Center with about 75,000 attendees … Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. said it’s tripling the size of its Roxy store at South Coast Plaza to 2,750 square feet … The Navy said it will open two of its golf courses in Cypress to the public. Military personnel will have priority on the 18-hole Destroyer Course and nine-hole Cruiser Course.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: Orange County’s housing picture in June, with the median price of homes sold down 0.6% to $540,000, versus May, but the number of homes sold up 8.3% to 4,749, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Up: OC’s hotel picture this year, with occupancy through May at 70.4%, versus 64.5% a year earlier, and the average nightly room rate up 3.1% to $114.94, according to PKF Consulting.
