EBay and a group of other retailers and antitrust advocates are meeting in Washington today to discuss ways to get around a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last year that a manufacturer's "minimum advertised price," or MAP, is legal and not a violation of antitrust law. Manufacturers say minimum-pricing requirements protect a brand's image from being tarnished by discounting, Joseph Pereira reports, while helping retailers make enough profit to pay for customer service. But consumer advocates say MAP keeps prices high and reduces choice. Typically, MAP agreements apply only to high-end goods, electronics and new product lines …

General Motors will "explore alternatives" for Saturn, the niche brand that Mark Phelan says "was born in hope and hype nearly 25 years ago." GM chairman Roger Smith created it in the 1980s to reinvent the way GM did business, but most observers expect that it will be closed or sold. Saturn's newest vehicles have garnered positive reviews but they're not connected with consumers. The Saturn Aura midsize sedan was named North American Car of the Year, and the Outlook and Vue crossovers, Solstice roadster and Astra compact have all won plaudits. But Saturn sold just 240,091 …

"Mattel has established its exclusive rights to the Bratz drawings, and the court has found that hundreds of the MGA parties' products, including all the currently available core female fashion dolls Mattel was able to locate in the marketplace, infringe those rights," says U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson. He granted Mattel's request that MGA can't use the name "Bratz." MGA says it will appeal.

Brand-name drugs that treat cardiovascular conditions don't work any better than their cheaper generic counterparts, according to a study headed by Dr. Aaron Kesselheim of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. "Without today's innovative brand-name drugs to legally copy, there would be no generic drug industry," the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, responds in a statement.

Boston-based Prescription Project had complained that the spots did not comply with Food and Drug Administration rules on product marketing.

Among other things, a complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx claims that Wal-Mart "engaged in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem," that resulted in the death of temporary worker Jdimytai Damour.

British Airways is conducting merger talks with several carriers that could create the largest airline in the world, David Robertson reports. The latest news is that it is courting the Australian airline Qantas, with which it has a long record of cooperation. (BA bought a quarter share in Qantas when the Australian carrier was privatized in 1993, but it has not had any stake in the airline since 2004.) BA has also been discussing a merger with Iberia, the Spanish national carrier, and hopes to expand its alliance with American Airlines. The combination of the four would create a behemoth …

It's not that I don't have very close friends with prostate problems, knee replacements and 401(K)-depeletion disorders but -- even as a centrist member of the boomer generation -- I'm aghast to read that appliance manufacturers are pandering to our looming impairments and disabilities. We stopped being the Pepsi Generation when the Pepsi started going straight to our paunches, but are we really so paunchy as to need grab bars in the bathroom that will support 350 pounds? Are we really so forgetful as to require glass-top stoves designed to prevent boil-overs? "This population is far more demanding …

Industry forecasts call for 5% to 7% of consumer packaged goods purchases to be made online over the next five to seven years, according to Joe Quinn, Procter & Gamble's director of global e-commerce. So P&G has taken a $7.5 million, 1% stake in a British online grocer that it hopes will help it learn more about direct sales to consumers over the Internet, David Holthaus reports. P&G has been supplying Ocado -- whose 150,000 users click up annualized sales of about $500 million -- since 2000. The investment, however, gives it "an opportunity with a small, nimble company …