Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) won a substantial legal victory after a federal appeals court overturned a 2009 ruling against the drug maker. The decision would have required Abbott to pay $1.8 billion to Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) for patent infringement. A Texas jury had previously found that Abbott copied Johnson & Johnson’s approach when developing its blockbuster arthritis drug Humira.

Altria (NYSE: MO) plans to test-market new smokeless tobacco products called “tobacco sticks” to offset declining sales of cigarettes. The wooden toothpick-sized sticks will be coated with finely milled tobacco and sold to consumers under the Marlboro and Skoal brands. Smokeless tobacco products contributed more than $1.4 billion to Altria’s 2010 revenue.

Chip and image sensor designer OmniVision Techologies (NSDQ: OVTI) forecast fiscal fourth-quarter revenues $240 to $260 million, beating analyst forecasts of about $220 million. The company’s bullish outlook was driven by strong demand from Apple (NSDQ: APPL), which uses OmniVision’s image sensors in the iPhone and iPad. OmniVision reported record volume shipments in its fiscal third quarter ended Jan. 31 due to increased consumer demand for smartphones and tablet computers. OmniVision’s third-quarter earnings rose by close to 800 percent year on year to $44.7 million.

Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) was dealt a blow when a federal appeals court upheld a ruling allowing Starbucks Corp (NSDQ: SBUX) to begin distributing its branded coffee. Kraft had distributed bags of Starbucks coffee beans to grocery stores and retailers for more than a decade before Starbucks in November announced it wanted to terminate the agreement. Kraft argued that ending the deal would do “irreparable harm” to the company and filed a preliminary injunction that was later overturned.