US Supreme Court Turns Away Appeals From Dell, Energizer

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to intervene in a tax dispute between a unit of Dell Inc. (DELL) and New Mexico tax authorities.

Dell has been fighting a determination by New Mexico that the computer company is subject to the state's gross receipts tax because of its use of a third-party computer repair company in the state. Interstate commerce components of the U.S. Constitution generally limit the ability of states to tax companies that don't have a physical presence within their boundaries.

Dell, a computer maker that relies heavily on mail order sales, argued in its appeal that New Mexico courts wrongly found the company's use of third-party contractors gives the state the right to levy taxes against the computer maker.

The case is Dell Marketing L.P. v. New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, 08-770.

In other Supreme Court action:

- The justices ended a patent complaint Energizer Holdings Inc. (ENR) filed with the International Trade Commission in 2003 against several companies it claimed were importing batteries that violated its patent relating to a key technology for zero-mercury batteries. Energizer's appeal came after the Washington-based Federal U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a special patent court, ruled against it. The case is Energizer Holdings Inc. v. U.S. International Trade Commission, 08-583.

-By Mark H. Anderson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9254; [e-mail]