As a fast-fashion retailer that relies on highly visual looks to hook fickle youths, Urban Outfitters seems to step on a lot of toes as it rolls out new items at a rapid clip. Having already offended the Irish with its "Irish yoga" trucker hat and St. Patrick's Day t-shirts, the retailer is proving to be an equal opportunity offender.

Now you can add the Navajo Nation to the list of aggrieved parties finding UO's designs to be culturally insensitive.

The Philadelphia-based retailer has shown an affinity for the Navajo in recent years, identifying a number of its products as being Navajo or Navaho. And that has irked the actual Navajo that they are taking Urban Outfitters to court.Continue reading...

After being approved last June, gruesome images of a man exhaling smoke through a tracheotomy hole, blackened lungs, and an unborn baby suffering from smoke inhalation were slated to appear on cigarette packaging across America in September of this year, due to an order from the Food and Drug Administration.

But tobacco lovers were saved the pain of looking at such things by a judge on Wednesday, who said that the “images … violate free speech protected by the Constitution,” according to CBS/AP. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon had already temporarily blocked the requirement back in November, and the government is appealing his decision.Continue reading...

"Contributing Design Editor, The Wall Street Journal. Interior designer. Founder of NettoCollection, ex-Creative Director of Maclaren Nursery by David Netto."

So reads the Twitter bio of acclaimed designer David Netto, the end bit indicating the residual fallout from his bombshell tweet on Feb. 27 announcing that he had "resigned as creative director of maclaren nursery today and am disassociating myself from the company." The abrupt resignation as creative head of the British stroller brand's nursery division came three days after Maclaren US ever so quietly announced it was seeking Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

Yes, the more-affordable-than-a-Bugaboo stroller brand that also appealed to celeb parents such as Brad and Angie, that The New York Times once compared to swine flu as a "major health threat" for jamming New York's gentrified Brooklyn sidewalks, has quietly filed for Chapter 7 and apparently, forgive the pun, folding. What the hell happened that Netto forcibly ejected himself from the chic crib he had constructed for the British-owned Maclaren?Continue reading...

While Kobe Bryant just passed Michael Jordan's All-Star scoring mark, it won't diminish Jordan's stature or legacy. When most people think of Jordan, they think of his six championships with the Chicago Bulls, his five NBA MVP awards, and his leaping image that’s been immortalized by Nike as Jordan Brand.

Many today think of Jordan and see dollar signs around one of the biggest sports brands and athletes of all time. Inevitably, that leads to legal tussles to protect the Jordan cash cow. That's why the represent  the majority owner of the worst team in the NBA, the Charlotte Bobcats, has sued Chinese sportswear and shoe manufacturer Qiaodan Sports for wrongful use of his trademark.Continue reading...

Back in 2010, when Jeremy Lin was 'just' a Harvard-educated, undrafted rookie with the Golden State Warriors, Chinese businesswoman Yu Minjie, the owner of a sporting goods company, took 5,000 yuan ($793) and purchased the trademark for “Jeremy S.H.L.” That prescient investment is paying off.

“S.H.L.” stands for Lin Shuhao, Lin’s Chinese name, according to China Daily. Now Yu can use the trademark on sportswear, accessories, balls, and toys all the way up through August 2021.Continue reading...

Some officials and the media in China got their shots in on the US during the recent Apple trademark case loss to China-based Proview Technologies. Well, here's hoping they got it all out of their system because it's all swinging back China's way again.

And this isn't just knocking off some Prada or pressing DVDs of the latest Ghost Rider movie. The latest charges against China's just-steal-it corporate culture carries the ominous term: "Espionage."Continue reading...

Battling counterfeit products is one of a brand's biggest headaches. More often than not, counterfeiting strikes luxury and accessory brands, since it is easier to sell fake branded handbags, shoes, and clothes online and in flea markets and bazaars around the world. But what about when buying a knock-off has life-or-death implications?

Fake products are penetrating an even more serious category than luxury goods — pharmaceuticals. America's Food and Drug Administration just announced the findings of the agency’s investigation of fake vials of the cancer drug Avastin that have showed up in California, Illionis, and Texas.

The FDA's tests indicated the vials did not contain Avastin's active ingredient, and traced the phony drug to the U.K. via a distributor in Tennessee. Reuters reported that the fake Avastin apparently originated in Cairo, Egypt and went from there through Switzerland to Britain. While the FDA was warned about the products by British officials late last year, it only confirmed that they were counterfeit last week. Cancer patients and medical practitioners, understandably, are up in arms.Continue reading...

Groupon CEO Andrew Mason was bullish at the 2012 Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference last week, where he commented, "We've cracked the code…at this point, when we think of the competitive landscape, we think that the biggest competitors are ourselves." 

It’s a bit of bravado midst a range of troubles besieging Groupon lately including 17 lawsuits brought against the company claiming they and other retailers violate federal and state consumer protection laws regarding voucher expiration dates and provisions about single transaction usage.

“Groupon effectively creates a sense of urgency among consumers to quickly purchase ‘groupon’ gift certificates by offering ‘daily deals’ for a short amount of time,” according to the first case filed last year, reported Bloomberg. “Consumers therefore feel pressured and are rushed into buying the gift certificates and unwittingly become subject to the onerous sales conditions.”

March 12th is the projected date for settlement of the class-action lawsuits. After raising $700 million in its IPO last November, Mason is committed to staying ahead of the competition, specifically, LivingSocial. "Our goal is six months from now, when you go to Groupon, it’s going to look and feel very different," Mason was quoted by Bloomberg. "It’s going to be a much more robust and refined service that immediately jumps off the page."Continue reading...