DELTA DROPPING ROUTE TO D.C.

Delta Air Lines is discontinuing its Madison-Washington, D.C., nonstop service at the end of January.

Last Thursday, Frontier Airlines began nonstop service between Dane County Regional Airport and Reagan National Airport, but it's only three days a week. Madison passengers also can get to Washington by connecting in other cities.

In December, Delta and US Airways finalized a swap of landing slots at National and New York's LaGuardia Airport. As a result, Delta is adding flights in New York.

On Jan. 3, US Airways announced its first phase of new flights at National, but Madison was not on the list. Another round of announcements, for flights starting in July, is expected in February, according to company spokesman Davien Anderson.

Kodak is suing Apple, HTC over patents

Eastman Kodak Co. has filed patent-infringement lawsuits against Apple and HTC Corp., claiming the smartphone makers are infringing several of its digital-imaging inventions.

The lawsuits, filed Tuesday in federal court, claim that some of Apple's iPhones, iPads and iPods and HTC's smartphones and tablet devices infringe four Kodak patents related to image transmission.

It also lodged complaints before the U.S. International Trade Commission. In addition, Kodak accuses HTC of infringing the same image-preview technology at the heart of a dispute pending before the commission with Apple and Research in Motion.

The embattled photography pioneer is trying to negotiate a licensing deal with Apple and RIM it estimates could be worth up to $1 billion.

WebMD CEO quits; 2012 outlook is cut

WebMD Health Corp. CEO Wayne T. Gattinella has resigned, and the health care information services provider said it stopped talking to potential acquirers about a sale of the company.

The New York company also said Tuesday it expects 2012 earnings to be "significantly lower" than in 2011 as it faces tough competition and its drug company customers deal with patent expirations.

WebMD provides health and benefits information to consumers, employers, doctors and health plans.

BRIEFLY

COMMODITIES: Gold for February delivery rose $23.40 Tuesday to settle at $1,631.50 an ounce. March silver rose $1.033 to $29.815 an ounce. March copper rose 9.7 cents to $3.513 a pound. March wheat fell 2 cents to $6.3975 a bushel. March corn was unchanged at $6.52 a bushel. March soybeans fell 1 cent to $12.32 a bushel.

PENNEY CHAIRMAN: J.C. Penney Co. named board member Thomas J. Engibous, former head of Texas Instruments, as the department store chain's new chairman. He succeeds Myron E. Ullman III, former chief executive and chairman. The announcement adds the finishing touches to a major management transformation at the retailer.

JOB REPORT: U.S. employers filled almost 4.15 million jobs in November, a 3 percent increase from the previous month, the Labor Department said Tuesday. It also nearly matched September's hiring level, which was the highest since May 2010.

4G EXPANSION: Verizon Wireless has activated three new 4G LTE cell sites in the UW-Madison campus area, from north of Campus Drive to Lake Mendota and from the Eagle Heights apartments to Frances Street. Verizon said the 4G provides faster speeds for data transmission than earlier generations of the technology.