FTC ends Chevron-Unocal merger opposition following accord on patents

[Rose Siding]

Surrendering a potentially lucrative asset to win government approval for their merger, Chevron Corp. and Unocal Corp. on Friday gave up a group of controversial Unocal gasoline-formula patents that could have driven up California gasoline costs by $500 million a year.
The Federal Trade Commission approved the patents settlement and dropped its objections to the $18 billion Chevron-Unocal merger.
...
State officials, the FTC and Unocal's rivals had accused El Segundo-based Unocal of hoodwinking the Air Resources Board into adopting clean-air fuel specifications that dovetailed with formulas Unocal was secretly patenting. The FTC, in a complaint filed in 2003, accused Unocal of "fraud" and "patent ambush."

Unocal always argued that it didn't do anything wrong and that the financial impact of its patents wasn't nearly so great.
...
The patents still have had an impact. "Blending around" adds complexities to the refining process and has probably cost Californians about a penny a gallon, or $150 million a year, Hackett said.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/13046024p-13891761c.html

[acmejack]

1. Imagine that!

I can't believe they would do anything that would effect their bottom line.