FC: Playboy can't keep "Playmate of the Year" term off terriwelles.com

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

The decision:
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/DA1BA54F49B327A788256B5300003E66/$file/0055009.pdf?openelement

---

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50255,00.html

   Playmate Checkmates Hef's Mag
   By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)

   2:00 a.m. Feb. 7, 2002 PST
   
   WASHINGTON -- Terri Welles isn't just a nude model, the proud owner of
   a sex site and the 1981 Playboy Playmate of the Year.
   
   Thanks to a lawsuit brought by Playboy, Welles has become famous for
   much more than merely shedding her clothes for photographers.

   In a unanimous decision, a panel of federal judges from the Ninth
   Circuit Court of Appeals said last Friday that terriwelles.com could
   feature the term "Playmate of the Year" because it did not infringe
   upon the trademarks of Playboy Enterprises (PEI).
   
   Playboy had accused the aging centerfold queen, who has appeared in 13
   issues of the magazine and 18 newsstand specials, of allegedly
   infringing upon the bunny company's famous trademarks by including
   them in the text and meta tags of her website. The complaint threw the
   intellectual property book at Welles, charging trademark infringement,
   dilution, false designation of origin and unfair competition.

   But the three-judge panel, in an opinion written by Thomas Nelson,
   said that Welles had the right to use what amounted to her previous
   job title -- even if her porn site competed with Playboy's rather more
   famous homepage by hawking a $19.95 a month membership.

   [...]



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