Lawsuits, Buyouts and Time Travel

It's been a pretty busy week in the industry, with several company acquisitions by Beacon Promotions, Americo and InnerWorkings. In our office, we've also been tied up preparing out 2012 Buyer's Guide, as well as the usual end-of-year enormous mountain of unexpected work. And perhaps most importantly, I've been occupied trying to figure out what to get my girlfriend for the holidays. I'm thinking a Blu-ray copy of Predator.

With everything going on, I didn't have time to address a few big stories from last week that garnered a lot of attention. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much new information, but here's brief recap and follow-ups on what's been going on in the promotional products world.

Obama for America vs. Demstore.com—Both President Obama's campaign organization and lawyers for Washington Promotions & Printing, reported owner of Demstore.com, are keeping quiet about the trademark infringement lawsuit filed on October 26.

However, that doesn't mean everyone's lips are sealed: Steve Schwat, owner of Washington Promotions & Printing, is reported to have said, "I thought presidential campaigns were like the Grateful Dead, who never enforced their IP rights, but encouraged people to record their music and print their logos."

Currently, items with the logo in question are still available to purchase on Demstore.com. The promotional products company has 20 days from the time they received the lawsuit to respond; assuming the date of service is around the date of filing, expect to hear something more about the case in two weeks.

CPSC vs. Company Doe—The biggest update to this story is how much it has grown: The New York Times ran a story about it on Wednesday, which inspired a slew of other blogs and news sites to pick it up as well. As a result, supporters and opponents alike have been sounding off on the CPSC's product safety database, SaferProducts.gov.