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Arctic Glacier and three of its executives have pleaded guilty to a criminal antitrust conspiracy in the market for packaged ice. The Department of Justice issued a press release on Tuesday announcing the plea agreement: Minneapolis Packaged-Ice Company Agrees to Plead Guilty to Customer Allocation Conspiracy Company Agrees to Pay $9 Million Criminal Fine WASHINGTON - A packaged-ice company, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $9 million criminal fine for... Posted on October 13, 2009 at 06:23 pm by Daniel Low

On September 30, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota largely denied News America's motion for summary judgment and granted Insignia Systems' motion for summary judgment on News America's counterclaims. Insignia had alleged that News America engaged in anticompetitive business practices in the market for in-store shelf advertising, while News America filed a number of counterclaims. News America had asked the Court to dismiss Insignia's claims on the grounds that the undisputed... Posted on October 4, 2009 at 04:30 pm by Daniel Low

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division filed a statement of interest Friday, available here, opposing the Google Books settlement. DOJ's filing addresses concerns that the settlement: (1) fails to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 (which governs class action lawsuits); (2) violates copyright law; and (3) violates antitrust law. DOJ's statement is a bit unusual in that it raises both antitrust and non-antitrust concerns; typically the DOJ's Antitrust Division confines public... Posted on September 20, 2009 at 02:32 am by Daniel Low

MrConsumer found a lactose-free parmesan cheese substitute at his local supermarket, and decided to try it. Beside bearing more resemblance to sawdust in flavor than grated cheese, the package contained another surprise. Had MrConsumer been Superman, he could have used his x-ray vision at the store and discovered that the container was only about 60% filled. *MOUSE PRINT x-ray: Regulations of the Food and Drug Administration call this "slack-fill." *MOUSE PRINT: Subpart F-Misbranding for... Posted on November 16, 2009 at 03:12 am by Edgar

More and more cell companies are advertising unlimited service packages these days. Here's one from a company you have never heard of: Their "unlimited" plans range in price from $39.99 to $69.99. So do they really give you "unlimited" service? *MOUSE PRINT: From their FAQ: Q: Is there a cap on the unlimited program. A: Yes, the unlimited Local & LD Plans are capped at 10,000 minutes per month. Q: How many text messages can I send per month? A: Unlimited Text Messaging is capped at 30,000... Posted on November 9, 2009 at 02:55 am by Edgar

Walletpop reports that a senior citizen recently bought one of those mini dorm-size refrigerators from Sears, and was having a problem. Her food was spoiling after only a day or two, as the interior temperature of the refrigerator reportedly hovered between 50 and 65 degrees, and higher on hot days. When she contacted Sears, the consumer recounts, "a technician who handles warranty service for Sears told me it is quiet because there is no compressor in it and it cannot keep food cold enough to... Posted on November 2, 2009 at 02:57 am by Edgar

Daniel Corbett, who unlike some people does not merely have a sadly un-updated picture of his younger self but who is by all indications actually as terrifyingly youthful as the visual evidence suggests, has despite this seeming deficiency quite ably rolled out the Pittsburgh Trademark Lawyer blog. Welcome to the party, Daniel! The more the merrier. Just keep [...] Posted on November 19, 2009 at 12:05 pm by Ron Coleman

Outgoing New York Times ombudsman Daniel Okrent writes about 13 Things I Meant to Write About but Never Did. A favorite, via Best of the Web Today: Op-Ed columnist Paul Krugman has the disturbing habit of shaping, slicing and selectively citing numbers in a fashion that pleases his acolytes but leaves him open to substantive assaults. &#xe2€&#xa6 I didn't give Krugman [...] Posted on November 17, 2009 at 03:33 pm by Ron Coleman

Remember this item? I wrote, regarding a family's request for access to a serviceman's email account after his death, as follows: I say that absent a specific compelling reason to get the email information - i.e., the location of his will or the buried treasure or something like that - it should die with the man. [...] Posted on November 17, 2009 at 03:33 pm by Ron Coleman

Companies that make or market FDA-regulated products are increasingly using Internet and social media tools such as Google searches, Twitter, Facebook and Wikipedia to promote their products and to provide other important information to consumers and health care professionals. While the Internet and social media provide significant benefits to consumers, industry, healthcare professionals and the public as a whole, these forms of media present new legal and regulatory challenges with respect to... Posted on November 20, 2009 at 10:47 am by randal shaheen

Many of us are parents and we know many of you are as well. So we decided to take just a quick departure from our normal focus on good business consumer marketing practices to let you know that the FTC has just published an excellent internet safety resource called "Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online." Net Cetera is a guide for parents, particularly the many of us who have kids who are more internet savvy than we are, that gives practical advice on things like social networking... Posted on November 19, 2009 at 07:42 am by randal shaheen

President Obama has beefed up consumer protection enforcement at the FTC with the nomination of Julie Brill, the Senior Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Consumer Protection and Antitrust for North Carolina. Brill has an impressive consumer protection resume, with an emphasis on credit reporting and privacy issues. For 20 years Brill was an Assistant Attorney General for Consumer Protection and Antitrust for the state of Vermont. There she brought enforcement actions against tobacco and... Posted on November 18, 2009 at 07:22 am by randal shaheen

This reminder is a bit late for new Christmas-season consumer products, but it bears repeating year round, as companies contemplate new products: buy domain names associated with a new product before announcing the new product. This seems like an obvious thing to do, but I regularly read stories where companies fail to perform this step of a new product launch, then have to go and spend thousands of dollars to secure related domain names that could have been purchased for perhaps $10 per year... Posted on November 20, 2009 at 02:00 am

If you've been paying attention to the trademark front, you've probably heard that Oprah and Mutual of Omaha recently settled a small skirmish over the use of "aha moment." The skirmish was apparently ignited by Mutual of Omaha's attempt to register "Official Sponsor of the Aha Moment." According to Oprah, she made the phrase famous when using it on her show to describe "flashes of understanding" she has with the guests on her show. My first question, directed to Ms. Winfrey: Are you kidding... Posted on November 19, 2009 at 02:00 am

While browsing through a toy store recently, I noticed what appears to be a trend in branding this holiday season - reintroducing classic or "nostalgic" toys. It is very hard for me to accept that the toys I played with as a child could be considered "nostalgic," but upon first sight of the Chatter Phone&#xe2&#x84&#xa2, my childhood was calling. The beauty of these toys is in their simplicity. They require imagination; as a toy should, but often doesn't today. Another great thing is that the toys and... Posted on November 18, 2009 at 04:00 am