NATION

NATION

Judge turns away lawsuit against Solo Cup Co.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge has turned away a first-of-its-kind lawsuit filed by an attorney seeking to exploit a quirk in federal patent law that had been dormant for more than a century.

Washington patent attorney Matthew Pequignot sued the Solo Cup Co., claiming that it was misleading consumers by marking its products with expired patent numbers. Solo is a leading manufacturer of disposable cups.

Pequignot sued under a unique provision in federal law that allows anyone to file suit on behalf of the United States and split any monetary damages with the government.

2 ex-Big Dig contractor managers plead guilty

BOSTON — Two former managers of a Big Dig contractor pleaded guilty Wednesday to being part of a conspiracy to deliver substandard concrete to the massive highway project.

Six former managers of Aggregate Industries NE Inc. were indicted in 2006 on charges they falsified records to hide the inferior quality of more than 5,000 truckloads of concrete. They were accused of recycling concrete that was too old or already rejected by inspectors and in some cases, double-billing for the loads.

Gerard McNally, a former quality control manager, and Keith Thomas, a former dispatch manager, pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including two conspiracy counts, five mail-fraud counts and five counts of filing false reports in connection with a federal highway project.

Associated Press