Compiled by LAURA SLATTERY
Court date
It's not every day that Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz gets cited in heated legal argument, but her penchant for ruby slippers was this week brought up in a Manhattan courtroom as Christian Louboutin, designer of red-soled shoes for women, fought to protect its trademark against Yves Saint Laurent, which Louboutin is suing for selling similarly crimson footwear. YSL's lawyer, David Bernstein, argued his client had used red as a signature colour since the fashion house was founded in 1962. Given that Dorothy – and even King Louis XIV of France – were famous for their scarlet shoes, Bernstein questioned whether Louboutins red sole trademark was even valid.
Product watch: Suboxone
Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser makes Air Wick air fresheners, Vanish fabric cleaners and Nurofen painkillers – all vital household products the morning after the night before. It also owns SSL, which makes Durex condoms and Scholl party feet insoles. None of these items are responsible for a boost in its second-quarter profits, however – that came from its heroin substitute, Suboxone. The US patent on Suboxone ran out in 2009, but Reckitt has developed a new version of the drug that dissolves on the tongue, extending the life of its revenue stream. Profits from Suboxone are still set to plummet, however, prompting the group to plan an expansion into pipeline products for the treatment of cocaine, alcohol and cannabis addiction.
€56.56
Average transaction value (ATV) for menswear, according to a Retail Excellence Ireland study. The menswear segment has seen the most pronounced fall in ATVs over the past year.
"History is scattered with the stories of those who held fast to rigid ideologies and refused to listen to those who disagreed. But those are not the Americans we remember
President Barack Obama calls on Republicans refusing to sanction his plans for tax rises for the wealthy to make a compromise on their hardline stance.
Status update
Sparkling wealth: Diamond miner and trader De Beers posted record sales of rough diamonds in the first half of 2011 after "exceptional" demand from India, China and the US.
Cooling business: Robert Ettinger, founder of the cryonics movement, has died and had his body stored in a vat of liquid nitrogen. Fees for his non-profit service start at $28,000.
Pay-per-view: The paywall versus micropayment versus free content debate engulfing newspapers has hit the TV world, with ITV set to launch a micropayment system for its catch-up player.
The question
Will France be the next euro zone country to lose its AAA credit rating?
Tea Party hardliners, helpfully described as “right-wing nutters” by UK business secretary Vince Cable, have been busy campaigning against the raising of the $14.3 trillion US debt ceiling this week by, er, dressing up as George Washington and Captain America. But back in the euro zone, there’s a more soberly attired bout of elite politicking on the horizon. Will France be bullied by the International Monetary Fund into further austerity measures in order to protect its AAA rating?
On Wednesday, an IMF report urged Paris to cut spending in order to meet its budget deficit target of 3 per cent of GDP by 2013 and safeguard its AAA status, which will keep its borrowing costs low. Among the reducing number of AAA-rated countries in the euro zone, France has the highest debt and deficit. French budget minister Valérie Pécresse agrees that its 3 per cent target is sacrosanct, but disagrees with the IMF report on how to go about it.
While the IMF report noted that taxes in France were already amongst the highest in Europe and advocated cuts in spending on healthcare and pensions, Pécresse and the Sarkozy administration have another idea – a reduction in tax exemptions. The Tea Party would doubtless not approve. But then they’ll have their own crisis to deal with.
