Ben & Jerry’s Sues Porn Seller Over Flavor-Tied Titles, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. sued the producers of a series of adult-film DVDs with titles and packaging based on the its ice cream flavors alleging they violated the company’s trademarks.Ben & Jerry’s, a unit of London-based Unilever NV (UNA), filed a lawsuit today in federal court in New York to block Caballero Video from selling its “Ben & Cherry’s” series of 10 DVDs with titles including “Peanut Butter D-Cups” and “Boston Cream Thigh.”
The DVD packaging features images of naked men and women against backgrounds that copy the design of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream containers including grazing cows and fluffy white clouds, according to Ben & Jerry’s.
“The hardcore and exploitive pornographic infringing ‘Ben & Cherry’s’ DVDs” are likely to confuse consumers by “creating an association of the Ben & Jerry’s family of marks and the Ben & Jerry’s trade dress with pornography,” the South Burlington, Vermont-based ice cream company said in its complaint.
A phone message left with Caballero Video seeking comment on the suit wasn’t immediately returned.
The case is Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. v. Rodax Distributors Inc., 12-CV-6734, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
To contact the reporters on this story: Bob Van Voris in Manhattan federal court at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net.
The DVD packaging features images of naked men and women against backgrounds that copy the design of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream containers including grazing cows and fluffy white clouds, according to Ben & Jerry’s.
“The hardcore and exploitive pornographic infringing ‘Ben & Cherry’s’ DVDs” are likely to confuse consumers by “creating an association of the Ben & Jerry’s family of marks and the Ben & Jerry’s trade dress with pornography,” the South Burlington, Vermont-based ice cream company said in its complaint.
A phone message left with Caballero Video seeking comment on the suit wasn’t immediately returned.
The case is Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. v. Rodax Distributors Inc., 12-CV-6734, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
To contact the reporters on this story: Bob Van Voris in Manhattan federal court at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net.
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