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There, we said it. We'll say it again. "That's Hot." Ohhhhhhh, burn.
Paris Hilton is suing over the use of her picture and catchphrase ''That's hot'' on a greeting card. Hilton sued Hallmark Cards Inc. in U.S. District Court seeking an injunction and unspecified damages to be determined at trial.According to the lawsuit filed Thursday, the card is titled ''Paris's First Day as a Waitress'' and shows a photo of Hilton's face on a cartoon of a waitress serving a plate of food to a patron. In a dialogue bubble she says, ''Don't touch that, it's hot.'' The customer cartoon asks, ''What's hot?'' She answers, ''That's hot.''
The suit says Hilton owns the trademark ''That's hot,'' which was registered on Feb. 13, 2007.
The lawsuit claims commercial appropriation of identity, invasion of privacy, misappropriation of publicity, false representation that Hilton endorses the product, and infringement of a federally registered trademark. The damages would be based on profits from the $2.49 cards, said Hilton attorney Brent Blakely. [New York Times]
Who cares more? Paris or her lawyers? Does it count when her t-shirt doesn't use an apostrophe?
Photo by quibbling bunnies via Flickr
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She's a commodity who's been bought and sold and re-sold by her own parents since she was very young: the merchandising of their/her name, the tacky carwash ad, even the sex tapes all seem to not phase these parents one bit as their baby girl preens in the limelight for their mutual benefit. They never bothered, with all their money, to make sure that she somehow got through even the crappiest college.
So of course they don't have a sense of humor about this. But seriously, the card shouldn't be using her face: that is personal, and I wouldn't want mine used in an unflattering way, either, even as a minor celebrity. That's what celebrities have to work with: their images.
But the "It's Hot" phrase on its own: that should never have been trademarked, since it's too generic. Maybe if everyone started using it, she'd have no one specific to go after. You can't say of a plate, "That's hot?"
I'd hoped there was a moratorium on Ms. Hilton stories, but it seems I hoped in vain. So that's two things under my skin with one article: the aforementioned Ms. Hilton, and the idea that such a generic phrase could be trademarked.