BRIEFCASE.

Byline: -- Staff and Wire Services

Grupo Televisa eyes Univision

Mexican media giant Grupo Televisa has joined a group of U.S. private equity firms preparing a bid to acquire Univision Communications Corp., according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Among Televisa's partners in the investor group is Cascade Investment LLC, the personal investment company of Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates.

A Televisa spokesman declined to comment Monday on when the investor group might present a buyout bid for Univision. The SEC documents were filed Friday.

In February, Univision began exploring a sale of all or parts of the company.

Televisa already owns an 11 percent stake in Univision.

Backers of patent reform victorious

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Supreme Court handed a victory to patent-reform advocates Monday, ruling that a small company whose patent was infringed by eBay Inc. was not automatically entitled to a court order blocking the offending service.

In a closely watched case, the court unanimously ruled that judges have flexibility in deciding whether to issue court orders barring continued use of a technology after juries find a patent violation. The decision threw out a ruling by a federal appeals court that said injunctions should be automatic unless exceptional circumstances applied.

The case, which pitted the small Virginia company MercExchange against San Jose-based eBay, has become a rallying point for critics of the U.S. patent system. They have argued that the patent system is riddled with abuse, mainly from ``patent trolls,'' or small businesses that sue established companies to enforce patents for ideas that have never been developed into products.

Taxpayers lose incentives case

WASHINGTON -- In a victory for business, the Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed the efforts of a group of taxpayers in Toledo, Ohio, to challenge nearly $300 million in tax breaks for DaimlerChrysler AG's new Jeep plant.

Chief Justice John Roberts said in the 9-0 decision that the alleged injury to the taxpayers was mere conjecture and that they had no standing to challenge tax or spending decisions ``simply by virtue of their status as taxpayers.''

DaimlerChrysler called the ruling ``a big win for America'' and said Congress and the states should seek legislation to reinforce the ability to use tax incentives as a tool to compete for investment and jobs.

The message from the ruling is that states ``will not be held hostage to lawsuits'' brought by people with ``no direct connection to the issue at hand,'' said W. Frank Fountain, DaimlerChrysler's senior vice president for government affairs and public policy.

Internet Tablet gets Google Talk 

HELSINKI, Finland -- A new version of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet will include a Google Inc. program that enables users to talk to each other and exchange instant messages over the Internet, the world's largest mobile-phone maker said Monday.

The application, Google Talk, will be preloaded onto the handheld device, which is Nokia's first mobile gadget that's not a cell phone but supports wireless broadband access for Web surfing and e-mail.

Google and Nokia are expected to announce the upgrade at an event today in Stockholm, said a Nokia spokesman who asked not to be identified. He declined to provide other details, such as the whether the $360 price tag would change with the update.