Paris Hilton fumes over 'hot' Hallmark cards

The hotel heiress is seeking no less than $100,000 in damages for a Hallmark greeting card using her name, photo and her trademarked catch phrase, 'that's hot.'


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Hotel heiress Paris Hilton is seeking at least $100,000 in damages from greeting card maker Hallmark for using a photograph of her face superimposed onto a cartoon body and her trademarked catch phrase, "that's hot."

The card, titled "Paris's First Day as a Waitress" says, "Don't touch that, it's hot. What's hot? That's hot."

paris_card.03.jpg
Paris Hilton is seeking $100,000 in damages from Hallmark for the card company's use of her image and catch phrase 'that's hot.'

Hilton trademarked the phrase "that's hot" in 2004 while she was starring in the reality TV show "The Simple Life." In one 2003 episode, she and celebrity friend Nicole Richie serve meals at a fast food restaurant.

Hilton accuses Hallmark of using her name, photograph and registered trademark for commercial purposes without her consent and seeks at least $100,000 in damages, but possibly more depending the total sales of the $2.49 greeting card, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Los Angeles Thursday.

Hallmark defended the cards, saying a number of its new humor greeting cards are parodies of popular celebrities and politicians.

"These cards take a satirical look at news and gossip surrounding these public figures, including Paris Hilton, and we do not believe Hallmark has violated any of Ms. Hilton's rights," said Hallmark spokeswoman Julie O'Dell in response to the suit.

"Hallmark's theft of Ms. Hilton identity is contrary to established law and it should be held accountable for its actions." said Brent H. Blakely, Hilton's lawyer.

"[Hallmark's] acts were willful, malicious and oppressive to the extent that the defendant acted in conscious disregard of the plaintiff's rights," according to Hilton's complaint. Hallmark has "caused and continues to cause [Hilton] great and irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law."

As a play on her catch phrase, Paris Hilton starred in a commercial for hamburger chain Carl's Jr., advertising its Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger. Top of page

Sponsors

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.