Pappas wins legal round; IBM sues Groupon; Rory Read’s role in EMC-Dell merger; who will succeed GSK’s Witty?

In today’s early edition of the Bulldog tech and life science news roundup:

Venture firm A.M. Pappas wins a legal round in lawsuits
IBM sues Groupon
Former Lenovo exec Rory Read’s role in Dell-EMC merger
Speculating on who will succeed GSK CEO Andrew Witty

The details:

Suit against Pappas dismissed

A lawsuit by former Chimerix CEO Kenneth Moch against Triangle venture capital firm A.M. Pappas has been dismissed.

According to David Ranii in The News and Observer, the suit was dismissed in an Orange County court last week. Moch had accused the firm and two top executives of waging an “extortion campaign” against him.

Read more at:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article63630907.html#storylink=cpy

IBM sues Groupon over patents

IBM says in a lawsuit that Groupon is infringing four of its patents in Groupon’s online deals marketplace.

“Despite IBM’s repeated attempts to negotiate, Groupon refuses to take a license, but continues to use IBM’s property,” according to IBM. Big Blue also asked the court to order Groupon to halt further infringement and pay damages, PCWorld reports.

PCWorld notes that last year IBM also sued Priceline for patent infringement.

The details:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3040496/ibm-sues-groupon-for-infringing-its-patents-including-from-prodigy-online-service.html

Rory Read’s new role

Former IBM and Lenovo executive Rory Read will take on a new role once the $67 billion merger between EMC, which has a big presence in the Triangle, and Dell wins government approval.

Read, who now works with Dell, will head up integration efforts. EMC exec Howard Elias will lead EMC’s side of the integration.

The Boston Business Journal has the details on all the executives involved:

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2016/03/01/heres-who-will-lead-the-combined-emc-dell-after.html

Who will replace Andrew Witty?

If Andrew Witty steps down as CEO of drug giant GSK next year as reported in European media this week, who will replace him?

News site Hunts Scanlon, which reports on executive search and other HR matters, reports:

“According to sources, likely inside candidates could include GSK’s global pharmaceuticals head, Abbas Hussain, and leader of its consumer division, Emma Walmsley. Finance chiefs have also seen their competencies tapped for chief executive roles recently; therefore GSK CFO Simon Dingemans, a former Goldman Sachs banker, has been mentioned by recruiters unrelated to the search as a potentially strong candidate.”

GSK also might pursue an exec at another pharmaceutical firm such as Novartis, the news site adds.