Business news in brief

BLOXX HIRES CTOA SCOTTISH software firm that filters website content for clients ranging from United Biscuits to the London Symphony Orchestra has hired a financial services veteran as its first chief technology officer to guide its international expansion.

Livingston-based Bloxx has recruited Graham Twaddle, who as CTO of London-listed Sherwood International helped to grow the insurance software firm's market cap to 300 million from 4.5m.

Twaddle plans to increase Bloxx's research and development headcount by 40 per cent to 14.

ADVANTAGE APPLE

APPLE has won a preliminary ruling from a US trade panel that Taiwanese handset maker HTC Corp infringed on two of the California company's patents. HTC, which uses Google's Android operating system for its smartphones, said it would "vigorously fight" the infringement finding.

An International Trade Commission judge on Friday made the ruling, but the full commission must now rule on whether it will uphold or reverse its administrative judge's decision.

The ruling, though preliminary, will be closely dissected as it is one of the first between Apple and other smartphone makers that use Android.

FLIGHT RULING

BAA, the Spanish-owned airports operator, is likely to be told this week that it must kick-start the process of selling one of its Scottish airports, as well as London Stansted, when the Competition Commission releases its final report on the company's presence in the UK market.

Any such ruling would uphold a decision reached in March, when the commission rejected a BAA appeal that it should be allowed to retain the airports.

It is widely expected that the group, owned by Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial, will opt to sell Glasgow due to the recent stronger performance of Edinburgh.