Trademark

AMAGANSETT, N.Y. - Some actors take a part because they admire a director's vision or love the script. Richard Gere signed on to his new Wall Street cautionary tale "Arbitrage" because he liked how the filmmaker responded when he slammed him against a wall. Gere and Nicholas Jarecki were dining at the upstate N.Y. bed-and-breakfast Gere owns, discussing the actor's potential involvement in the dramatic thriller that opened Friday to strong reviews. Then Gere made an odd request: He wanted Jarecki to read with him as the wife of Gere's character.

The most popular dessert in Dodgers history is back, and cinnamon is the secret ingredient. The Cool-A-Coo, the ice cream sandwich that accompanied strikeouts by Fernando Valenzuela and home runs by Mike Piazza, returns to Dodger Stadium on Thursday. When Stan Kasten took over as the Dodgers' president May 1, he put the Cool-A-Coo revival at the top of his to-do list. He figured it would take a few weeks, not an entire summer. "We had to put Humpty Dumpty back together," Kasten said.

In a legal battle over red soles, luxe shoe brand Christian Louboutin won a limited victory over design house Yves Saint Laurent when an appeals court granted trademark protection for some of its footwear with lacquered red bottoms. The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan overturned a lower-court decision by deciding that Louboutin shoes that have red soles combined with a different colored top are protected under trademark, while a shoe design that is red all over cannot be protected, That means Louboutin can theoretically prevent another designer from putting out a black stiletto with a red sole, for example, but not a red stiletto with a red sole.

Ryan Lochte has moved on from the competitive waters of London to the glittery pools of Hollywood. The 28-year-old swimmer descended on Los Angeles this week to film a cameo in the CW's teen soap "90210," hit a few red carpets and even drum up merchandising business. Already a media darling thanks to that smile (complete with patriotic grill ) and washboard stomach, Lochte's even more of a hit for his, um, unique interview presence. "Memorizing lines and trying to like, say 'em and still, like, do movement … it was hard," Lochte told Access Hollywood, via Buzzfeed, about his stint on "90210.

For Apple Inc.in China, it's been one step forward and two steps back when it comes to lawsuits. It's an old cliche, but nothing describes Apple's situation more accurately now that the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant has been sued by two more Chinese companies after having just reached a settlement with another. Apple was sued Thursday by Zhi Zhen Internet Technology, which alleged that Apple's Siri is infringing on its voice assistant service patents, and earlier in the week by Jiangsu Xuebao, which alleged that Apple infringed on its trademark of Snow Leopard, the name of an operating system Apple released in 2009.

When it comes to your tech tools and toys, can you name that sound? Play along. Bloo-bloop. That's TiVo. The grand and broad-sounding G flat/F sharp major chord, Baaaaah . That's the Mac startup sound. Dong-dong-dong-dong. That tells you Intel is inside. Then there's the signature cutting swoosh of an Xbox booting up. And you know that distinctive synthesized crescendo of disparate elements that resolve into a singular auditory thread you feel in your core -- Deep Note --that means you're listening to THX . Now you can add the synthesized xylophonic tink-tink -- the sound of launching Siri.

--London has overtaken Dubai as the world's prime shopping destination, according to a new report. The British capital attracts the most retail brands among all the great shopping cities around the globe, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE. Last year, London and Dubai tied for first place and beat out shopping hot spots such as New York, Hong Kong and Paris. CBRE said London draws about 56% of all international brands, with Dubai close behind at 54%. In third place is New York, followed by Moscow, Paris and Hong Kong.

There's a thin line between a brand becoming ubiquitous and becoming generic. And no premium brand wants to be generic. Some experts say that Apple's iPad as a tablet-segment leader may now be facing that. "For the vast majority, the idea of a tablet is really captured by the idea of an iPad," says Josh Davis, a manager at Abt Electronics in Chicago. "They gave birth to the whole category and brought it to life. " A company's biggest fear is that its brand name becomes so commonly used that a judge rules it too "generic" to be a trademark.

It was fashion versus fashion as luxury retailer Gucci America Inc. faced off in court against Los Angeles clothier Guess Inc. over a multimillion-dollar trademark lawsuit. In the opening day of trial in Manhattan, Gucci accused Guess of copying its designs in a "complicated scheme" to knock off the Italian fashion company's most iconic trademarks, according to Bloomberg. The saga began three years ago when Gucci, a unit of the French luxury conglomerate PPR, filed suit against Guess alleging the California company tried to "Gucci-ize" its products by crafting logos that closely imitated Gucci trademarks.

BEIJING — The Kardashian sisters don't sell their clothing and perfume in China, and you can't buy authentic J. Crew khakis here. But both names are already trademarked by Chinese businesspeople looking to profit from American enterprises that want to tap China's booming retail market. Extortion? Nope. It's called "trademark squatting. " And it's legal in China, where trademarks generally are awarded to those who are first to register them with government authorities. If these and other U.S. companies want to use their own names, they probably will have to pay the Chinese holder for the rights.