The Association of National Advertisers recently filed a “friend of the court” brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in a key commercial speech case involving data mining.

Many in the advertising and legal communities are watching this case carefully. At stake is the hot-button issue data mining for marketing purposes protected by the First Amendment. It will also set an important precedent for the pharmaceutical industry, and the marketing and advertising industry in America.Continue reading...

As Google's Vint Cerf, the so-called "father of the Internet," spoke this week about Internet freedom with the Council on Foreign Relations, the mega-web giant was tightening the screws on those who abuse that freedom to harm others.Continue reading...

As the production of counterfeit goods continues to be a chronic problem in 2011, a new report released by the US government points to 33 "notorious markets" that are "prominent examples" of both online and physical marketplaces involved in selling fakes.

The report, issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, identifies Baidu, the leading online search engine in China, as providing links to online locations containing "allegedly infringing materials."Continue reading...

It wasn't just President Obama who received a "shellacking" this election year. Food manufacturers and distributors in the U.S. were pummeled by recalls of unsafe or tainted food that caused as many as one in six Americans to become ill, and 3,000 to die, according to government estimates.

That's why lawmakers and consumer advocates alike hailed the passage of a new food safety law by the US Congress, which President Obama is expected to sign as early as today. When it becomes law, it will mark the biggest change to food safety legislation since 1938.

The new law requires that food manufacturers come up with detailed plans to prevent possible contamination, and that those plans be shared with the Food and Drug Administration. Companies need to provide product test results and other evidence of compliance with sanitary systems.Continue reading...

Russell Simmons, who pioneered hip hop with the formation of the record label Def Jam and clothing brands American Classics, Argyleculture, and Phat Farm, has filed suit against The Millwork Trading Co. LTD (Li & Fung, USA), a division of a Hong Kong apparel-sourcing firm.

Simmons claims that Li & Fung USA first approached him about licensing the American Classics brand in 2007, which he describes above as a mass-market brand inspired by Walmart.

Proceeding on good faith, Simmons says he told the company that "Simmons Design Group's main focus was Argyleculture, and that the two brands needed to work synergistically and belonged together." Li & Fung's brand interests, however, apparently favored class over mass.Continue reading...

Google just isn't having a good time with trademark issues in the European Union.

In March, we reported that a suit brought against Google by LVMH, owner of the Louis Vuitton brand, had been ruled in favor of Google. The case involved LVMH's claim that, by selling the Louis Vuitton brand name to anyone as a search term, Google was infringing on its trademark and promoting the online sale of counterfeit products.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg "ruled that Google isn't liable for trademark infringement when it sells linked ads to a brand's competitor."

Well, not so fast. Now the French Supreme Court has ruled that Google "can be held liable for the sale of trademarks as AdWords on the grounds of civil liability." The court has referred Google's dispute with Louis Vuitton to the Paris Court of Appeals. Zut alors!Continue reading...

The FCC this week unveiled its grand plan to regulate America's broadband industry. It’s an admitted compromise which Chairman Julius Genachowski calls "a third way."

The plan would reclassify high-speed Internet service providers as "common carriers," allowing the Federal Communications Commission to regulate cable operators such as Comcast and telcos such as Verizon who would prefer to determine what (and how much) content users are downloading.

Addressing the hot-button issue of net neutrality, the commission said it would strive to not overly "regulate the Internet, including web-based services and applications, e-commerce sites, and online content."

The specter of broadband regulation sent Wall Street into a deep dive, with cable stocks falling 5% to 6% as investors feared the commission's proposed policy will hamper broadband providers' control over their own networks.Continue reading...

Luxury brands have been hit especially hard by counterfeiters, with the practice of selling fake brand merchandise only escalating in recent years. In April alone, fake goods valuing more than $240 million were confiscated in the US.

Brand knock-offs not only erode profits for luxury brands, they damage a brand's image. But now, at least one brand has been vindicated: Versace just won $20 million in damages as the result of a suit filed by the company in a Los Angeles court. The case began in 2003 when more than 100 people and 70 retail shops were charged with selling phony Versace goods.

Gian Giacomo Ferraris, CEO of Versace, told the BBC the ruling is an "historic judgment." As the biggest monetary award to an Italian company defending its brand ever, he added that the legal precedent would benefit all luxury Italian brands.Continue reading...