Paris Hilton wins opening salvo in war with greeting card monolith Hallmark.
In the heiress’ lawsuit against Hallmark over its unlicensed use of her image and catchphrase, "That’s hot," in a birthday card, La Hilton has scored Round One.
The 9th Circuit Court in Los Angeles rejected the greeting card giant’s attempt to have the case dismissed on grounds the card was a spoof of the starlet’s public persona.
The card in question contained an oversized photo of Hilton’s head superimposed on a cartoon waitress’ body, with the caption "Paris’s First Day as a Waitress." The word balloon has Pars warning a customer, "Don’t touch that, it’s hot."
The customer replies, "What’s hot?" and Hilton answers, "That’s hot."
Inside the card, the caption then reads, "Have a smokin’ hot birthday."
Paris alleged Hallmark stole the gag from her The Simple Life, in which she and Nicole Ritchie, who also grew up with caviar piled on a silver spoon, went all over the country trying to be "average" i.e. work at a fast-food restaurant.
Paris then sued Hallmark for misappropriation of trademark infringement and also moved to strike the right of publicity claim as strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP.
The court rejected Hallmark’s appeal, affirmed denial of its motion to strike and gave them a bitch SLAPP, sending the case back to federal court.
