Less than 1 percent of the world's water is drinkable. As water gets scarcer, the business of cleaning it up is expected to boom. What role will Pentair play in that future? The Golden Valley company said today it's talking with a big-name rival about forming a new global residential water treatment business. GE Water & Process Technologies would own about 20 percent of the joint venture, and Pentair would own about 80 percent, according to a press release. Pentair said it would not comment further until discussions with GE are complete.

A federal jury in Texas sided with Medtronic and ordered Boston Scientific to pay $250 million in damages for infringing on three patents. Medtronic sued in 2006, accusing Boston Scientific of illegally copying aspects of Medtronic's angioplasty catheters, which are used to install stents. Bloomberg News reports the verdict is the sixth largest this year. MarketWatch reports that Boston Scientific plans to appeal the verdict to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Cupdate: HealthPartners' new mascot Petey P. Cup is up to 321 Facebook friends. A quick skim of the mascot's mini-feed shows he's recently added the SuperPokin' application and is giving out virtual hugs. There's also a link to a new Cafe Press store selling Petey P. Cup T-shirts, trucker caps, throw pillows, even doggie apparel. Kevin Palattao, HealthPartners vice president for patient care, who came up with the idea, will appear with Petey P. Cup this afternoon on Sirius Radio's Jay Thomas Show.

Do you have an inside scoop or news tip about a Minnesota company? Spotted something interesting in your RSS reader? Drop Business Agenda a note at dhaugen [at] minnpost [dot] com.