The United States Supreme Court has denied a petition by former Playboy model Carmen Electra against strip clubs alleging that they had infringed her trademark.
Carmen Electra is the name used professionally by American actress, model and media personality Tara Leigh Patrick, 49.
She is also a singer who once released an album produced by Prince and did glamour modelling for Playboy magazine before starring in the television series Baywatch in the late 1990s.
She was also a big hit in many parody films including the Scary Movie series.
She filed the case that went all the way to the US Supreme Court together with 10 other models who had similar grievances about their images and names being used, and the court has now ruled against them in a verdict issued on Monday, 22nd November.
Carmen Electra and the other successful models in California and Texas had sued numerous strip clubs after their likeness was used on adverts without their permission.
Despite winning a previous case against the strip clubs, Electra had appealed the decision because she had only won an injunction and she was therefore not entitled to receive any financial compensation.
After going through numerous courts, it was left to the Supreme Court to rule on the matter.
And now the Supreme Court appears to have sided with the strip clubs.
John Golaszewski, a lawyer representing Carmen Electra, slammed the decision by the Supreme Court as a “free pass” for the strip clubs.
He said: “We sought certiorari to address a serious discord among district courts regarding an individual’s ability to bring and sustain a Lanham Act claim.
“The Court’s decision amounts to a free pass for businesses in certain jurisdictions who unapologetically misappropriate and exploit the hard-earned intellectual property rights of women who are deemed not famous enough to be afforded federal trademark protection.”
He added: “We will continue to fight for our clients’ rights and push this important issue forward as often as necessary.”
But it remains to be seen what can be done, as decisions reached by the Supreme Court are supposedly final.
