The Business Matrix: Saturday 20 April 2013

Levi's wins 'red tab' trademark case

Levi Strauss has won the right to stop rivals aping its famous "red tab" marking on jeans. Levi's took legal action against the Swiss company Colloseum Holdings after it began selling jeans with a similar rectangular red tab on the back pocket . The US company argued that consumers would assume such jeans were Levi's.

Thumbs down for Budget measures

The Treasury Select Committee has blasted George Osborne's plan to fire up the housing market by helping first-time buyers through equity injections and mortgage guarantees. In its report on the March Budget the committee says the Help to Buy scheme may have "a number of unintended consequences".

Santander admits fine-print mistake

Santander UK is writing to more than a quarter of a million mortgage borrowers, saying they could be due compensation because it failed to make clear the terms on which it changed the cap on its standard variable rate in December 2008.

Filofax hanging on with new owner

Filofax, the maker of the leather and paper personal organisers, is about to be sold. Currently owned by the private equity firm Phoenix, Filofax has faced brutal competition from electronic devices since its 1980s heyday, but still posted profits of £3m in 2011.