A dispute in Canada has brought light to an emerging privacy issue over the use of Facebook photos. Nathalie Blanchard's insurance company cut her disability benefits after their agent found photos of her on vacation through Facebook. 

Section 102(b) of the U.S. Patent Act prevents an inventor from getting a patent for an invention that was “described in a printed publication in this .

David Frum recently laid into the nutritional supplement industry with a guest commentary on CNN.com. The resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and one-time special assistant to President George W.

Several important apps developers are unhappy with Apple and the way the company is still exerting too much control over their App Store. Some developers are so frustrated with Apple and their stringent policies that they are completely halting iPhone development.

The headline in the Wall Street Journal read, "New Study Gives B Vitamin a Boost" and the first sentence in the article was, "Bring out the niacin."

While it may seem like an innocent act, a virtual poke on Facebook could have real-world legal implications.  A Tennessee court has held that a Facebook poke violated a protective order and is considered a communication with an opposing party.

A new app has been developed for the iPhone that connects people's faces to their names by using photos from their LinkedIn accounts.  The app is called Learn That Name.

Two days of hearings before the FDA about search-based advertising for drugs produced one possible solution: fixed warnings for products. Google has proposed that its AdWords could include a hyper-linked line that warns consumers about the potential dangers of a drug.

Google said on Nov. 12 that it had acquired Gizmo5, a young firm that makes software for Internet telephony. According to MediaPost, Google plans to integrate Gizmo5 into Google Voice, a one-number-for-all system for linking cell, home and work phones.

Ever since receiving FDA notices about their advertising generated from Google and similar searches, drugmakers have toned down their language and sought clarity on what is allowed.

Should there be a language standard in Google ads for supplements? Drug marketers may adopt rules given the close scrutiny that the FDA is giving search-generated ads for pharmaceuticals.

As the application industry continues to grow, a company not known for its IT prowess has decided to get into the business while the getting is good.The

The estimated market in the U.S. for virtual goods in 2009 is expected to double from last year, reaching $1 billion this year, according to a recent study (Mediapost, Inside Virtual Goods). 

The FDA has been busy this past month, sending out warning letters left and right on a variety of topics.  Here they are in brief: This warning letter attacks a purportedly novel type of hand sanitizer called SkinWear that claims to work for up to 8 hours without alcohol in order to prevent the transmission of H1N1 Flu Virus.

Ric Hobby spoke at the CRN Conference last week on the state of international supplement regulation with a particular focus on European regulatory efforts.  Ric directed most of his talk on the work of the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations, of which CRN is a member.

In what has been developing into a cautionary tale of when good apps go bad, potential class-action settlements in California and Texas surrounding Facebook's Beacon ad program may substantially affect one another.

David Vladeck, Director of the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection spoke at the Council for Responsible Nutrition Conference on the FTC's "active" dietary supplement enforcement agenda.

FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua M. Sharfstein, M.D. gave the keynote speech to the Council for Responsible Nutrition Conference. Dr. Sharfstein expressed a willingness to work with supplement industry members and received a warm welcome from industry members in return.

I just returned from the annual Conference of the Council for Responsible Nutrition at the Terranea Resort in Racho Palos Verdes, California.  Speakers on the agenda included a variety of supplement industry heavyweights and important government regulators.

Recently, it seemed as though the Google Voice app might have had a major security issue that could have resulted in a great privacy concern;  if it was not corrected, prying ears might have created legal issues.