Daily Links

1. A US company is trying to trademark the shape of its lettuce: We live in a world where absolutely anything can be commoditized, monetized, trademarked, and privatized. If you make a joke on the internet and it goes viral, for example, it’s almost guaranteed that someone will try to profit from it. – Read More on the Guardian

2. EU seeks to simplify customs system, tighten up on e-commerce: The European Commission proposed on Wednesday a reform of customs rules for the surge of incoming packages ordered online and to cope with increased environmental and labor standards and sanctions on imported goods. – Read More on Reuters

3. TikTok’s sister app Douyin says GMV for e-commerce business grew 80 percent last year: The emergence of Douyin as a major e-commerce player has changed China’s online shopping landscape and challenged the dominant positions of Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com. ByteDance is also using its experience at home to help TikTok generate revenue in overseas markets. – Read More on SCMP

4. How to invest in artificial intelligence: Exerts see parallels with the early period of the internet. Generative AI could provide a new pipeline of initial public offerings—and the foundation for the next generation of mega-cap tech firms. – Read More on the Economist

5. The Demand Latency Hangover: The problem is that traditional supply chain management solutions focus on mining historic demand patterns; and as such, are ineffective in translating shifts in markets at the speed of business. – Read More on Forbes

6. AI threatens humanity’s future, 61% of Americans say: Reuters/Ipsos poll. Lawmakers and AI companies are also concerned: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday testified before U.S. Congress, voicing concerns about potential misuse of the technology and asking for regulation. – Read More on Reuters

1. Forerunner Ventures is launching the Brand Power Score to help companies assess how impactful their brands is: This is partly to help start a conversation about new ways that founders and CEO can invest in their branding. – Read More on Fast Co.

2. How AI is creating a ‘Wild West’ scenario for entertainment giants like Spotify, Disney: Adding to the complexities is the question of whether AI-generated content can be protected and who gets compensated for it. – Read More on Yahoo

3. RELATED READ: What the Law Says About Copyright Ownership and AI-Generated Content. A couple key Qs come to mind: Should ChatGPT be allowed to use original content generated by third parties to generate responses, and are humans the only ones who can be credited as the authors of AI-generated content? – Read More on TFL

4. Will AI topple Michelin, the Oscars, Goop and Other Curation Brands? In a world of superabundance, consumers have long turned to recommendation brands that sift, sort, select and reject according to their own (often opaque) standards. – Read More on Bloomberg

5. Taco Bell wants to liberate “Taco Tuesday” from trademark restriction: Taco Bell announced on Tuesday that it is looking to get the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel the trademark registration that Wyoming-based Taco John’s has owned for the last 34 years. – Read More from Taco Bell

6. What can Web3 offer retail, luxury goods, and sports brands? Experiences can also be accurately tracked and monetized through higher sales engagement or monetizing the secondary market value of those experiences. – Read More on Fireblocks

1. WeWork Co-Founder Buys a Hip Clothing Brand and Starts a Senior Center: McKelvey paid $10 million last year for a controlling stake in American Giant, a made-in-the-USA apparel brand that became famous in 2012 for creating a sweatshirt called “the greatest hoodie ever made.” – Read More on Bloomberg

2. Patagonia, Levi’s and The North Face Again Top Kearney’s Circular Fashion Index: “While we see some shining stars, we see the industry as a whole needing a step change improvement.” – Read More on Yahoo

3. Why Some Investors Are Betting on China’s Recovery but Avoiding Chinese Shares: While Chinese spending is boosting luxury goods companies’ shares, Chinese authorities’ harsh regulatory crackdowns on the sector have damped the growth prospects of Chinese titians like Alibaba Group. – Read More on the WSJ

4. Yes, the Metaverse Is Still Happening: Large enterprises such as NVIDIA and Unity are investing heavily to lay the foundational infrastructure, while Roblox, Decentraland, and Sandbox are jockeying to be the preferred portal, and Web3 studios such as Touchcast and TerraZero are working with leading brands to expand their market share. – Read More on HBR

5. Amazon is focusing on using A.I. to get stuff delivered to you faster: Focusing on regionalization requires technology that is capable of analyzing data and patterns in order to predict what products will be in demand and where. That’s where AI comes in. – Read More on CNBC

6. Why Gen Z Is Ghosting the Fashion Industry for Cosmetics & Toys: In the past 12 months, apparel spending among U.S. consumers aged 18-to-24 has declined by 11 percent – faster than any other generation. – Read More on Forbes

1. How Russia’s Rich Get Their Luxuries Now: One Russian report estimated that such “parallel imports” of laptops, tablets and smartphones totaled $1.5 billion last year. At the same time, Chinese cars and electronics have flooded onto the Russian market. – Read More on the New York Times

2. Fast fashion groups fall out of fashion fast. Life cycles are even tighter in online-only fast fashion. That is because barriers to entry are so low. Businesses need no special intellectual property. Only modest physical infrastructure is required. Contractors make the clothes. – Read More on the FT

3. With $10 Dresses and No Online Selling, This Budget Retailer Is Taking on America: Primark is throwing down the gauntlet to Walmart, Target and others in low-price clothing. – Read More on the WSJ

4. Jane Street, Jump Pull Back Crypto Trading Over US Regulatory Uncertainty: Regulatory uncertainty has made it difficult for firms to operate business in a way that meets internal standards. – Read More on Bloomberg

5. The garment industry, excluded from downtown planning, finally gets to have its say: For the past decade, city planners and stakeholders in downtown Los Angeles have been crafting a plan that would set the area’s development priorities for the area for the next 20 years. – Read More on the LA Times

6. Gen-Z is redefining the luxury market: The challenge for brands is that Gen Z has increasingly divergent value systems from previous generations of consumers. To attract and keep them engaged, luxury brands are rapidly having to move beyond the traditional notions of luxury. – Read More on Fortune

1. Is AI reshaping the fashion industry? AI models can be “trained by historical inventory levels and sales performance to predict future sales, businesses can make more informed decisions about what to stock and when.” – Read More on the Week

2. Can AI Fix the Retail Supply Chain? Data is a powerful tool in CPG, but it’s often siloed in organizations. GPT models can change that by helping nontechnical users analyze data to answer key business questions, relying on natural language instead of SQL or data scientists. – Read More on S&P Global

3. OMG Girlz Case Sidesteps Cultural Appropriation’s Day in Court: Former teen pop group OMG Girlz is back in a California courtroom today claiming that doll maker MGA Entertainment ripped off its name, style, and likeness. – Read More on Bloomberg

4. Bergdorf’s New ‘Conscious Closet’ Program Lets You Donate, Repair, or Resell Pre-Owned Luxury Goods: The cost of the respective services will depend on your relationship with the brand. “If it’s a long-standing client, some services come complimentary.” – Read More on Robb Report

5. Coach bags help Tapestry defy U.S. luxury gloom with forecast raise: Tapestry’s Coach handbags – which typically sell for less than $1,000 – have attracted more Gen Z and millennial consumers with collections such as Tabby and Willow, with the brand’s sales jumping 7 percent. – Read More on Yahoo