Popped Off

Portland, Maine–based retailer L.L. Bean filed a lawsuit against Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, Atkins and Gevalia, charging the companies with infringing on its trademark rights by linking pop-up ads to the L.L. Bean Web site, according to a recent Associated Press report. According to the lawsuit cited by AP, the four companies— two retailers, a diet firm and a coffee seller—developed the ads with software company Claria Corp., whose products track consumer spending habits and direct specific pop-up ads to Internet users.