Ferchi

* Japan sales tax increase passed, on pledge of early election. Hiroko Tabuchi – The New York Times. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's plan to double Japan's sales tax was approved by Parliament on Friday after months of haggling, but only after Noda promised opposition lawmakers that he would call early elections - a move that is likely to end his term in office and his party's hold on power. Despite low popularity ratings, Noda, who took office last September, has pushed ahead with the plan to raise the tax to 10 percent from 5 percent by 2015, an increase he says is necessary to start reducing the country's debt. Last month, when a majority of the commissioners on the Federal Trade Commission issued a statement warning about aggressive assertion of standard-essential patents in connection with the merger of two companies that make car air conditioners, Reuters?. On its own, the FTC’s statement wasn’t particularly interesting. But the antitrust watchdog is reportedly looking into allegations that Google is abusing the portfolio of essential tech patents it acquired in its merger with Motorola. Perhaps the FTC’s statement in the auto air-conditioning case, Reuters said, was an indicator of where the commission stood on Google’s use of Motorola’s patents.