Archive

At the oral argument in Bowman v. Monsanto, Chief Justice Roberts cut off Bowman's attorney seconds into his delivery, questioning his thesis, which undermined the purposes of patent law. "Why in the world would anybody spend any money to try to improve the seed if as soon as they sold the first one...

For the past several years, the money spent on online advertising has grown at the expense of other media platforms. That trend will probably continue, suggests a new report released Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau; it finds that brands will benefit from a 15 percent shift from the TV a...

The Federal Trade Commission last week reached a settlement with HTC America over charges the company failed to take reasonable steps to secure the software in its smartphones and tablet computers. The security flaws could have compromised the privacy of millions of consumers, the agency said. This ...

The evolving technological needs of consumers have prompted changes not only in tech support services, but also in the business strategies of technical support providers. Those providers need to adjust their business models in order to effectively meet consumers' needs and remain relevant. At first ...

Advertisers targeting mobile device users have some homework to do on the Google mobile ads system. The search giant this week provided more specificity about its AdWords Enhanced Campaigns, which lets mobile advertisers adjust bids by device, location and time of day within a single campaign. For e...

After months of dismal news, HP had something positive to report to its shareholders: fiscal Q1 numbers that exceeded both Wall Street and company expectations. Granted, the bar was set exceedingly low for the company, which shocked investors last year with news that it would have to take an $8.8 bi...

Information technology vendors who sell hardware and software to the federal market are keenly aware of significant flaws in the way government agencies purchase IT. An effort to reform IT procurement has been conducted by the Obama administration for the last two years -- with some improvement. Som...

Twitter launched an API for advertisers Wednesday, a move designed to help the social network boost revenues to better compete with its Internet ad competitors. The company has had an ad structure in place since 2010, when it launched its Promoted Tweets program, which allows advertisers to push 140...

Do you dread calling a company to get customer support? Most of us do. We are on hold forever and the problem drags on way too long, leaving brand loyalty damaged. Some companies are solving that problem by partnering with Support.com -- building customer loyalty, developing a competitive advantag...

Much has been said over the last few years about the loss of American jobs to other countries. The fact is that China and India, as well as other cheap labor countries, have taken a good number of jobs. Many of these jobs will likely never return. I wrote an article in 2006 titled "Why Money Chases ...

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is putting her money -- or rather her shareholders' money -- where her mouth is. Mayer has been proclaiming Yahoo's mission of becoming a must-visit daily portal equally accessible via PCs and mobile devices. To that end, the company unveiled a redesign of its website on Wed...

Dell reported another quarter with a drop in sales and profits, but its Q4 earnings Tuesday did beat analyst expectations, thereby putting a hotter spotlight on the computer maker's proposed $24.4 billion leveraged buyout deal. The company reported a net income of $530 million, or 30 cents per share...

Google may be planning to launch an ambitious brick-and-mortar retail operation to show off its consumer products. It will open standalone retail stores across the U.S. in time for the holidays, according to the latest rumor, to showcase its Nexus tablets, Chromebooks, Glass and other products. The ...

Oracle is not letting go of its Java patent infringement beef against Google despite its sound drubbing last spring when U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ruled that programming APIs were not subject to copyright protection. Last week, Oracle took the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the ...

The Twitter accounts for fast-food chain Burger King and automaker Jeep were taken over by hackers this week, prompting calls for stronger authentication practices while forcing marketing professionals to once again confront the shadowy regions of social media. Burger King was the first brand to rep...