Can anyone explain in a bit more detail how these payment schemes work? It mentions that manufacturers need to pay huge sums to mention awards in their ads. But by default, information is free. I can't "patent" a fact and charge people to mention it. So what's happening here? Do the manufacturers need to enter some kind of contract in order to even be eligible for the award? The article is a bit vague on this point.
The report is trademarked so you need a license to use it in your marketing. Plus, if you piss them off by challenging their rights, you may just not win an award in following years. The amount you have to pay (hundreds of thousands of dollars) is small potatoes to companies of this size so it is really not worth it to try and weasel out of any payment.