Corporate Report

Corporate Report

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Arthrex found guilty in patent-infringing case

An Oregon jury found Naples-based Arthrex Inc. guilty of infringing on a patent held by Smith & Nephew Inc.'s Endoscopy Division.

Smith & Nephew and Dr. John O. Hayhurst sued Arthrex three years ago, claiming that Arthrex's Bio Suture Tak, PEEK Suture Tak and Push Lock suture anchors violated a patent owned by Dr. Hayhurst and under an exclusive license to Smith & Nephew Endoscopy.

The jury awarded Smith & Nephew $14.7 million for Arthrex's infringement.

Smith & Nephew plans to seek an injunction prohibiting Arthrex from manufacturing or selling the devices in the United States.

The disputed patent covers Smith & Nephew Endoscopy's Tag Wedge, Tag Rod, and Bioraptor Suture Anchors used primarily in shoulder surgery.

"We are aware that other competitors may continue to profit from the innovation we and our surgeon partners have developed, and we will take all appropriate measures to protect our IP," Mike Frazzette, president of Smith & Nephew Endoscopy, said in a press release.

Tampa Electric starts process

to increase base rate

Tampa Electric Co. has notified the Florida Public Service Commission that it plans to file for an increase to its base electric rates, the first time it has made such a request since 1992.

"Our entire team has worked to continually increase our efficiency, which has allowed us to delay the need to adjust our base rates for 16 years, but unfortunately the time has come when we must do so," president Chuck Black said in a press release.

The expected increase to a residential bill for a customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month would be 9% to 10%.

Base rates are designed to cover the costs of building, maintaining and operating the electrical system, including power plants, transmission and distribution lines and facilities.

Other components of customer bills include fuel, purchased power, certain environmental initiatives and energy conservation programs. The cost of fuel, which is the largest factor in energy bills and is adjusted annually, is passed through from customers to fuel suppliers with no markup or profit to the company.

Since Tampa Electric's last base rate adjustment went into effect, the number of customers it serves has increased by 200,000, with a peak demand increase of nearly 50%.

Tampa Electric plans to file the details of its proposal in 60 days. That filing will start an eight-month process during which the request for new base rates will be considered by the FPSC.

Tampa Electric is the principal subsidiary of Tampa-based TECO Energy Inc., an energy-related holding company with utility operations in Florida, including Peoples Gas System.

Brown & Brown buys assets

of Alpha Benefits, HBA

Subsidiaries of Tampa- and Daytona Beach-based insurance firm Brown & Brown Inc. purchased the assets of Plymouth Meeting, Penn.-based Alpha Benefits Group Inc. and Miami-based HBA Insurance Group Inc.

Alpha Benefits Group reports annual revenues of about $5 million. It offers individual and group employee benefits insurance products and services to clients throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

HBA Insurance Group covers Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Vero Beach and reports annual revenues of 18.6 million. The company is the product of a 1999 merger of two south Florida agencies: Head Beckham Insurance Agency and Amerinsurance.

Rob Heller, president of Alpha Benefits Group Inc. and his team will continue to operate from their current Plymouth Meeting, Mechanicsburg and Lehigh Valley, Penn., locations as a freestanding Brown & Brown operation.

Bill Beckham, president of HBA Insurance, chairman Tito Freyre, and their employees will operate as a freestanding Brown & Brown profit center under the name HBA Insurance Group.

Brown & Brown Inc. and its subsidiaries offer insurance and reinsurance products and services, as well as risk management, third-party administration, managed health care, and Medicare set-aside services and programs.

NCircle signs three new

children's animation deals

NCircle Entertainment, a division of Alliance Entertainment and a subsidiary of Bonita Springs-based Source Interlink Cos. Inc., reached a theatrical distribution agreement with Kidtoons, a division of The Bigger Picture, an AccessIT company, to present the "Pocoyo" animated children's series in select movie theaters across the United States starting this September.

Kidtoons is focused on showcasing G-rated animated movies in theaters on weekend afternoons. Kidtoons-affiliated theaters also feature cartoon shorts, music videos and sing-a-longs prior feature presentations. Participating theater chains include Abingdon Cinemall, Allen, Atlas, Emagine, Marquee, Neighborhood, AccessIT's Pavilion Theatre, National Amusements, Rave Motion Pictures, Republic Theatre Group, Showplace and UltraStar.

NCircle is placing 800,000 inserts, including free-admission coupons, in all of its DVDs promoting the debut of the series at Kidtoons-affiliated theaters.

Co-produced by Zinkia and Granada International, Pocoyo is targeted at preschoolers.

NCircle Entertainment also entered into a five-year agreement with The MoonScoop Group's Taffy Entertainment, a distribution, brand management and entertainment company representing some of the largest international animation producers.

This North American licensing arrangement allows for new, first-time retail distribution of Taffy's "Dive Olly Dive!" which airs on PBS-TV's "KIDS Sprout" show and Animania HD. The series follows the underwater escapades of Olly and Beth - two young research submarines in training.

NCircle Entertainment also landed a five-year North American home entertainment distribution deal with Cake Distribution. The agreement gives NCircle DVD and digital rights to two animated television series: "Skunk Fu!" currently airing on the CW4Kids and Cartoon networks, and "Tiny Planets," appearing on the Noggin cable channel.

NCircle Entertainment licenses, manufactures and distributes family and children's programming and related images for home entertainment and consumer products. Its parent company Source Interlink is a media and marketing services company, a publisher of magazines and online content for enthusiast audiences and a distributor of home entertainment products, including DVDs, music CDs, magazines, video games, books and related items.

Utek buying Innovaro Ltd.,

fosters European growth

The Tampa innovation transfer-services company Utek Corp. agreed to acquire Innovaro Limited, a European innovation consulting and insight firm.

Founded in 2000, London-based Innovaro has offices in Cambridge, Amsterdam and Munich and has a global client base that includes private and public sector organizations.

Innovaro is being acquired for a total of $3.69 million shares of Utek unregistered common stock.

Further payments will be made subject to Innovaro attaining revenue milestones at the end of each of the next three years following the close of the transaction, which is expected to take place next month.

Innovaro had revenue of $2.42 million in 2007, but its net income was close to zero, according to Innovaro's management. The company had net assets of $323,000 as of December 31.

"The acquisition of Innovaro with its strong base of operations in Europe represents an important step forward in developing our strategy of becoming the first turn-key provider of innovation services in the world," Clifford M. Gross, Utek's CEO, said in a press release. "With our acquisition of Strategos, a leading innovation consultancy, which closed two months ago, and now Innovaro, we believe that Utek has significantly enhanced its ability to service its clients in the U.S. and abroad."

Evos aims to increase presence

After focusing on growth in other regions, Tampa-based Evos USA is trying to add more restaurants in its home state. 

With four locations in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, Evos is considering expanding into Clearwater, Sarasota, Naples, Orlando, West Palm Beach plus other cities in Miami/Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The company says it is conducting ongoing conversations with two potential franchise groups in Orlando plus one in Miami.

"We have been receiving e-mails and calls from guests eager to have an Evos in these cities for years," Dino Lambridis, Evos co-founder, said in a press release. "They are great markets with tremendous potential right in our backyard."

In addition to franchise stores, the company is looking at opening more corporate stores as well.

Evos USA recently hired Erich Overhardt to serve as strategic advisor. Overhardt is a former development director with Chipotle where he played a key role in its growth from two to 530 stores.  

Evos currently has signed area representative and franchise agreements in 15 states for more than 200 stores over the next ten years. 

Evos is a quick-service restaurant chain that offers healthier burgers, fries and shakes. The company's business philosophy is to use healthier ingredients, such as naturally raised hormone/antibiotic-free beef and organic ingredients, as well as alternative cooking techniques.