Branding | featured news

Eight years after Martha Stewart was released from prison for lying about a stock trade, the home diva is now facing another legal mess that may not be easy to clean up. Stewart, 71, took the stand in New York State Supreme Court Tuesday morning. She is at the center of a bitter legal battle between two of the nation's largest retailers - Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co.

The New York Times Co said on Monday that it was changing the name of the International Herald Tribune (IHT) to the International New York Times, putting an end to a 40-year-old brand that served as the hometown paper for Americans living abroad.

After lengthy delays, Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled its first two phones with the new BlackBerry 10 system. The Q10 will have a physical keyboard, while the Z10 has only a touch-screen keyboard. RIM also announced a company name change to BlackBerry to maintain a single brand.

Websites are hawking key chains bearing Trayvon Martin's likeness. Vendors are selling T-shirts and hoodies at rallies. The case of the slain Florida teenager is quickly turning into an Internet-fueled brand.

There's been quite a bit of controversy over the past several hours over words and images related to Twitter being used by third-party developers. Yesterday, Twitter seemed to threaten one party over the use of the word "tweet" and some UI elements that were similar to Twitter's own.