LOS ANGELES — Mantra Films and GGW Marketing, the parent company of the Girls Gone Wild brand, filed a lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles charging Girls-Gone-Mobile.com with copyright infringement.
Named in the suit are Oasys Mobile, WAAT Media and umbrella company Mandalay Media, Mandalay's Twistbox Entertainment and Thumbplay, and also AT&T Mobility and Verizon Communications.
According to the filing, Mantra/GGW claims trademark infringement and is seeking an injunction to shut down the Girls Gone Mobile site, along with damages. The suit also claims unfair competition, intentional interference with existing contractual relations and breach of contract.
The lawsuit indicates Mantra and mobile distributor WAAT entered into an agreement over wireless content in September 2005. Announced as "Cell Phones Gone Wild," the deal granted to WAAT the right to package, market and distribute wireless wallpapers, games and video programming, with WAAT paying quarterly royalties, which allegedly stopped in June 2008.
The filing claims that though the agreement was still in effect, WAAT partnered with mobile firm Oasys out of North Carolina to stream adult content and offer downloads on Girls-Gone-Mobile.com.
The lawsuit said the site, trademarked in 2007, was created to “deliberately target and imitate Girls Gone Wild’s adult-themed entertainment products marketed and sold under its Girls Gone Wild mark.”
The site and all defendants are accused of seeking to undermine Girls Gone Wild’s existing and potential business as a competing business.
Verizon and AT&T feature the content on their respective mobile networks, which is why they are included in the lawsuit.
Mantra is being represented by the intellectual property attorneys Keats McFarland & Wilson, with Anthony M. Keats, Christopher T. Varas and Konrad K. Gatien as counsel. The firm could not be reached for comment as of midday Tuesday.
When contacted, the office of WAAT Media said no one was available to comment on the filing.
The lawsuit will be heard in California Central District Court. Judge Margaret M. Morrow has been assigned to the case.
