Blog Posts by Caroline Kim

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week gave a “preliminary no” to Vermont-based folk artist Robert Muller-Moore regarding his efforts to protect his “Eat More Kale” T-shirt business. This ruling is based on Chick-fil-A's claims that the “Eat More Kale” phrase is too similar to its trademarked slogan, “Eat mor chikin.”

The legal fight over the “Eat More Kale” trademark between Muller-Moore and Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A Inc. has been going on for several years. Muller-Moore has been selling T-shirts and other items with the phrase for more than a decade. A local vegetable farmer asked him to create three shirts with the phrase, and Muller-Moore continued with the sales as a tribute to local farming.

He hadn't even heard of Chick-fil-A until the company contacted him. Chick-fil-A tried to stop him after first finding out about the sales in 2006 but then gave up the fight.

That is, until Muller-Moore filed for trademark protection in early 2011. In October 2011 Chick-fil-A sent a

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When you visit a fast food restaurant, do you choose a salad and yogurt parfait thinking they are healthier than a burger and fries? Or do you perhaps opt for the fish sandwich? Well, think again. These options may not be much better for you than a Big Mac.

Many fast food eateries have recently introduced menu items that offer consumers seemingly “healthier” options as the nation grapples with a growing obesity problem. McDonald’s (MCD) added the McWrap last week, Burger King (BKW) rolled out the turkey burger for a limited time on March 20, and Wendy’s (WEN) has been offering two types of flatbread sandwiches since March 26. Also, starting April 22, McDonald’s will add an egg-white only option to its breakfast sandwich selection.

"What's prompted many of these new menu items is really around choice," says Dr. Cindy Goody, senior director of nutrition at McDonald's. She says customers wanted additional choices to the burger and fried standard -- including more fruit.

The catch is that,

Read More »from Are ‘Healthy’ Fast Food Options Really Better for You?

Talk about preparing for the future. A Chinese woman reportedly bought a $6.5 million Manhattan condo for her daughter – who is now 2 years old – according to China's state TV, CCTV.

The lucky toddler’s new condo is in the Park Hyatt-managed One57 tower, currently under construction. The building, at 157 W. 57th Street, will be one of New York's tallest skyscrapers when finished in 2013 at a height of 1,004 feet. The residences will sit atop the Park Hyatt hotel with floor-to-ceiling windows, high-end appliances and hotel amenities. One57 made headlines last October when Hurricane Sandy caused damage to a construction crane on the building, blocking access to the street for several days. Associated Press

Kevin Brown, a senior vice president at Sotheby’s International Realty, told CCTV that he helped the woman look at various apartments in the city and asked why she was buying. “And she said, well, her daughter was going to go to Columbia, or NYU, or maybe Harvard so she needed to be in the center of

Read More »from Chinese Mother Buys $6.5 Million Condo for 2-Year-Old Daughter

Would you renounce your U.S. citizenship if it meant you’d be sending less of your hard-earned dollars to Uncle Sam?

As Americans face higher taxes and stricter enforcement, a growing number of them are, indeed, deciding to turn in their US passports. As of 2013, 77% of Americans will pay higher federal tax rates because the cuts in Social Security payroll taxes expired when Congress passed its tax package on New Year’s Day.

But the wealthiest households face the highest tax increases. From 2009 to 2011, the number of expatriates, or those who renounced their U.S. citizenship, doubled to 1,781.
 
Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, which provides financial services for expatriates, said that since the start of this year, 48% more of his clients in January than in a typical month inquired about moving funds abroad and the possible tax implications of changing citizenship.

The income tax rate rose this year to 39.6% from 35% for individuals earning more than $400,000 a year and married Read More »from Should You Renounce Your Citizenship?

If you thought 2013 closed the book on “Gangnam Style” forever, you were sadly mistaken. The song has taken the world by storm with record views and downloads on YouTube and iTunes, as Psy, the video's star, made myriad appearances on shows, commercials and parodies. Now he's on to the biggest television event of the year — the Super Bowl. The Korean pop star will appear in Wonderful Pistachios’ first Super Bowl commercial, donning his signature green suit to match the pistachio color.

South Korean rapper PSY performs 'Gangnam Style' live on NBC's 'Today' show in New York on Sept. 14, 2012.

"The Wonderful Pistachios brand is fun, just like me," said Psy in a Wonderful Pistachios’ press release Tuesday. "Also, I love pistachios, and I look good in green."

This will be the first commercial shown in the United States featuring Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-Sang. It was filmed Tuesday in North Hollywood by Grammy-award winning director Mathew Cullen, according to USA Today.

The company’s “Get Crackin” ad running during Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3 will feature Psy showing a special way to

Read More »from Psy’s Going to the Super Bowl

Retailers are ramping up their appeals to last-minute shoppers with a few big-name stores offering extended hours for last-minute gift buyers, pushing the boundaries of normal hours and with some even staying open for more than 24 hours straight.

First it was Macy’s (M), which announced last week that for the first time it will open most of its stores in the 48 hours leading up to Christmas Eve. Most of the company’s department locations across the country will be open for two days straight, beginning on Friday, Dec. 21 at 7 a.m. and extending through Sunday, Dec. 23 at 7 a.m. for its final One Day Sale of the season. The special sale will end on Dec. 23 at 7 a.m., but many locations will then remain open until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Feeling the pressure to keep up, other retailers are expanding their own hours to draw procrastinating shoppers.

This week Toys “R” Us said it plans to keep stores open for 88 consecutive hours nationwide, from 6 a.m. on Dec. 21 until 10 p.m. on Christmas

Read More »from Retailers Push Limits With Extended Store Hours to Lure Shoppers

For Apple (AAPL), 2012 could best be called “the year of Tim Cook”—or rather, “the year without Steve Jobs.” After working as interim CEO since January 2011, Cook officially became the CEO on August 24, 2011, shortly before Jobs’ death, and he’s had a lot of pressure and watchful eyes on him in 2012. 

Many people speculated whether Apple would start to slide after its visionary leader and founder passed. But Apple’s stock gained almost 50% under Cook’s leadership, hitting an all-time high of $705.07 in September 2012. It also hit its highest market capitalization this year to become the largest stock ever at $623.5 billion. But lately the stock has been sliding, dropping 20% from its all-time high.

It certainly was a year of changes, though. Apple revamped much of its product line—iPhone, iPad, iMac, Macbook Pro, iPod touch, Mountain Lion, iOS and iPod nano—but there were no Earth-shattering releases or improvements. Many of the new features were predicted before the release and

Read More »from Apple's Rollercoaster Year With Tim Cook

With the holiday shopping season upon us, many consumers are looking to buy new phones for themselves or as gifts — which means choosing a new plan. As unlimited phone data plans become less available, some wireless carriers are working on transitioning customers to shared talk and data plans.

This summer Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) unveiled new shared data plans, touted as a better value for users than traditional family shared or individual plans with added-on data packages. Shared data plans provide various amounts of communal data across multiple devices. All phones, tablets, gaming consoles, hot spots and laptops included in the plan share a bucket of data for one monthly fee — which, in theory, is meant to cut costs.

AT&T's Mobile Share and Verizon's Share Everything plans offer customers unlimited talk and text along with several levels of data for up to 10 devices. T-Mobile and Sprint also offer data shares — even unlimited data packages — but they only cover up to five devices

Read More »from Shared Data Plans Aren’t Always Cheaper