TMZ reports that a Playboy (PLA) shareholder has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that majority shareholder and chief creative officer Hugh Hefner has intentionally sabotaged multiple deal possibilities in an effort to hold onto his own lifestyle.

"If you were Hugh Hefner, 81, would you give up the parade of busty blonds, the fancy mansion and the reality TV show for a payout?" the lawsuit asks. "Hefner has continued to live the good life and make sure everyone knows it. Hefner remains in the limelight, showing up at media events and at the Playboy mansion ... with his girlfriends by his side."

Boston Scientific (BSX - option chain) stock is trading lower today the company reached an agreement with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to settle three patent disputes. Under the deal, BSX will pay JNJ $1.725 billion. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BSX.

This morning, BSX opened at $8.48. So far today the stock has hit a high of $8.83 and a low of $8.24. As of 11:50, BSX is trading at $8.47, down 16 cents (-1.8%). The chart for BSX looks bullish and S&P gives BSX a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

One of the more bizarre cases of corporate espionage and theft of intellectual property has come to an end, with trading card manufacturer Upper Deck settling a lawsuit filed against it by Konami, admitting to counterfeiting Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

Konami, which owns the rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! brand, sued Upper Deck last year, accusing the company of illicitly manufacturing and distributing over 600,000 trading cards. Upper Deck executives, including the company's CEO, invoked their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in court, and Konami was seeking damages of between $50 million and $150 million.

Monday morning, mobile phone firm Motorola (MOT) found itself on the lips of lawyers and judges. The first reason is that a lawsuit commenced in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of MOT stock purchasers who made their purchase from December 6, 2007 through January 22, 2008.

The lawsuit alleges that Motorola and "certain of its officers and directors" violated federal securities laws by "intentionally and knowingly misstating the 2007 fourth quarter earnings projections and sales demands for the RAZR2 during the 2007 holiday shopping season." The suit states that Motorola's RAZR2 did not attract buyers thanks to its $299 price tag and the fact that it had not improved enough from the RAZR. Nevertheless, Motorola made positive statements all while losing "significant market share" to its competition. The defendants claim that Motorola senior execs knew that Motorola was not on track to hit their profit forecast of 12 cents to 14 cents per share, and would like a bit of compensation.

Another week, another tale of gross incompetence, bureaucratic bumbling, stupidity, laziness, and arrogance at the SEC.

This time, it comes from Eric Kolchinsky, an executive at Moody's, who called the SEC in September to warn the agency that his company might be committing securities fraud. Ya know, the kind of the thing you'd think the SEC would be interested.

The U.S. Justice Department has charged giant pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) with paying tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks to Omnicare Inc. (OCR) to boost sales of its drugs to nursing-home patients, as reported by the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Prosecutors allege that Omnicare's annual purchases of Johnson & Johnson medicines nearly tripled under this scheme to more than $280 million.

According to prosecutors, the alleged kickbacks occurred between 1999 and 2004 and included payments for physician prescriber data that was never furnished. Johnson & Johnson also paid quarterly rebates based on Omnicare's success in switching patients from competitors' drugs in what both companies called an "intervention program."

I was checking out one of my favorite blogs yesterday (UniWatchBlog.com - operated by the obsessive Paul Lukas) and I found myself with a subject for this week's JockStocks. Is the NFL a monopoly? Should the league be exempt from the Sherman Antitrust Act?

This all stems from a suit by a company known as American Needle, which sued the NFL in 2000 when the league selected Reebok to be the exclusive provider of licensed NFL apparel. American Needle sued the NFL, stating that the Reebok deal violated antitrust statutes becasue the league and Reebok "conspired to stifle competition and inflate prices."

Eastman Kodak (EK) is grabbing headlines after the film firm filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging that Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Research In Motion Limited's (RIMM) BlackBerry camera phones infringe on Kodak's patents. Kodak is asking the ITC to block Apple and RIMM from importing the offending devices.

Additionally, the iconic photography company filed two suits against Apple in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. Kodak is claiming infringement of patents "related to digital cameras and certain computer processes."

Last summer, two Bloomberg News reporters filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the records of Federal Reserve secret transactions during the financial meltdown. The transactions relate to the $2 trillion U.S. loan program launched after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. In August, a federal judge ordered that the information be released.

Now, the Federal Reserve is appealing the ruling. The appeal states that "The disclosure of highly sensitive documents including 231 pages of daily lending reports, threatens to stigmatize lenders and cause them severe and irreparable competitive injury."

The former CEO of Internet gaming outfit BetOnSports has been sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy.

David Carruthers' London-based business was shut down after federal investigators linked to illegal online gambling in the United States. BetOnSports took in $1.25 billion in bets in 2004, 98% of which came from the United States. Carruthers and other executives were indicted in 2006, and he was arrested in Dallas on his way back to Costa Rica after attending the company's annual meeting in London.

Friday morning, a Parisian court convicted Google (GOOG) in a copyright infringement case surrounding the online publication of French books. The French judge ruled that Google has to pay roughly $430,000 in damages and interest to French publishing house La Martiniere.

In addition, Google was ordered to pay 10,000 euro per day until the French books are taken down from the online database. This decision is notable because publishers and libraries in both the U.S. and Europe have criticized Google for its decision to scan millions of books and make them available online.

The Securities & Exchange Commission announced today that it has charged the former CEO, CFO, and controller of former subprime behemoth New Century Financial with securities fraud.

Facing charges are former CEO and co-founder Brad A. Morrice, former CFO Patti M. Dodge, and former controller David N. Kenneally. All are accused of failing to warn investors about the risks in the company's business model, and of violating GAAP rules in making undisclosed accounting changes to mask the rapidly deteriorating performance of the company's subprime loans.

As the recession lingers, employees are getting more litigious. According to a report from BNA, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 93,277 private sector discrimination charges this year. It's the second highest in 20 years and the agency is thinking about increasing its staff to deal with the surge.

In light of all this, business owners definitely need to be vigilant. In fact, one of the biggest risks for employment problems comes during the holidays, especially with the end-of-the-year party.

So, to get some insight, I talked to Heather Gatley, who is the executive VP of human resources and the general counsel at AlphaStaff.

Insurance companies have $12 billion in indirect investments related to Iran, according to California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner -- and he wants them to stop. He's pushing insurers in his state to divest, and the perspective is gaining popularity: his counterpart in Florida thinks the policy should go national.

Kevin McCarty, commissioner in Florida, said to National Underwriter, "I have consulted with other state insurance commissioners to evaluate the practicality of developing a national initiative similar to the undertaking by the California Department of Insurance." He's already contacted the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Securities Valuation Office to figure out "the feasibility of leveraging national resources to review the financial statements of national insurers to determine their exposure to companies with operations in Iran."

This morning, Nokia (NOK) -- primarily known for its presence in the mobile phone arena -- announced that it is filing suits against some liquid crystal display (LCD) makers. NOK believes that these LCD producers are engaging in a bit of price fixing. It filed suits in the U.S. and Britain last month.

NOK believes that a group of manufacturers was fixing the prices of LCDs that the company uses in its handsets and of cathode ray tubes. The company said that it "has filed suits to recover overcharges it paid as a result of cartel activities which are currently under governmental investigation."