Facebook already owns the trademark for their name, but for many outsiders their legal department is getting a bit too aggressive in defending it.

It’s been talked about for quite some time, and now it’s finally happening. Facebook will allow users to check-in at locations straight from Facebook. The social network is partnering with the major location-based services–Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, and Booya (makers of MyTown)–to bring check-ins to the masses. Well, at least the masses that have smartphones or other touchscreen devices.

The service is called Facebook Places, and will be available via both the iPhone app and touch.facebook.com. Android, WebOS and BlackBerry users will have to be satisfied with touch.facebook.com for the moment. It will roll out gradually, but should be reaching all Facebook users soon. Presumably, it should work either way for those who use the iPhone app, it would be rather senseless to have an option for an app that you can’t use yet.

If you think fashion bloggers have little to no power or clout in the industry, get this: one fashion blogger created enough buzz to cause the cancellation of M.A.C.’s expected Rodarte makeup line, which was to be launched September 15.

Last week, the luxury fragrance house sent five perfumed taxi cabs out into central London to serve patrons the same way any other London black taxi would with a few exceptions. Each cab smells like either the brand’s Artemisia, Blenheim Bouquet, Endymion, Malabah or Orange Blossom perfume, and each one’s driver is specially trained to discuss Penhaligon’s fragrances and answer any questions about the brand. And Penhaligon’s is not the first company to embrace the taxi as a marketing tool.

Marc Jacobs fans will soon be able to play the American designer’s own version of tag. On Wednesday, the Facebook page for Marc Jacobs’ latest men’s fragrance, Bang, was launched. When the fragrance hits counters this Friday, the fan site will unleash a new game called “Bang! You’re It,” in which users can virtually “bang” their friends to earn points.

You may have heard that Facebook recently hit 500 million members. According to Google AdPlanner, in June the popular social network received 540 million unique visitors, so there’s some evidence that the site’s open graph initiative is working in expanding the reach of the site even beyond its massive user base.

But what’s really interesting is how Facebook has penetrated the wealthy web. First, a little background on why we focus on internet trends among $100,000+ households. The only site which reaches more wealthy US users is Yahoo, who reaches 56% of the $100k+ online population, compared to Facebook’s 51% (Google may reach more, though they don’t include themselves in their AdPlanner stats, so it’s difficult to pinpoint exact numbers).

May was big month for Facebook. The social networking site saw 6.5 million new users in an unexpected age group: people of 65+ years. The number of new members age 65+ was nearly triple what it was a mere year ago, signifying a fast rise in the popularity of the site among  senior citizens. But [...]

In the battle against counterfeiters online, fashion brands have too often been slow to adapt or innovate, preferring to put the bulk of their resources into lawsuits and legal teams instead. First, merchants selling fake shoes and bags took over search results, and now they’re coming for social media as well.

She may be turning into a fashion fame monster, but apparently Lady Gaga’s “little monsters” (her nickname for fans) couldn’t care less. The 24-year-old pop star recently surpassed President Obama, Twilight and Starbucks in overall Facebook fans. Presently just over 10,300,000, it makes the singer the most popular living person on Facebook, and the first to cross the 10 million fan mark.