Crush Entertainment, owners of AssLikeWhoa.com, an “ebony niche” adult site, has won a suit against West Coast Productions over infringement of its "Ass Like Whoa" trademark.
Crush Entertainment, which owns AssLikeWhoa.com, JoiRyda.com, and the affiliate program CashLikeWhoa.com, took action after finding out that West Coast would release a new video line called Azz Like Whoa on March 7 of this year.
Crush Entertainment legal affairs director T. Victor Stevens said his company was concerned by West Coast's Azz Like Whoa title, which is nearly identical to Crush's Ass Like Whoa name.
According to the terms of an out-of-court settlement, West Coast Productions must:
1. Pay Crush Entertainment an undisclosed amount in damages.
2. Pay all legal fees and costs that Crush Entertainment incurred during the legal dispute.
3. Stop production of its Azz Like Whoa video line after producing only one volume under that name.
4. Pay for the worldwide recall of copies of its Azz Like Whoa DVDs and VHS products that have already reached video store shelves and are being sold by online outlets.
5. Never again use the Azz Like Whoa title on any future VHS or DVD releases or other products.
Any store owners and webmasters still selling WCP’s Azz Like Whoa video should contact West Coast Productions immediately for a copy of the recall notice and instructions on how to comply with the recall, Stevens said.
Crush Entertainment was represented by trademark attorney Holly Pranger of the Pranger Law Group, the same lawyer who recently helped three-time AVN Performer of the Year Lexington Steele win the rights to his domain name in a highly-publicized cybersquatting case.
Pranger said West Coast's use of the Azz Like Whoa name would likely have created a false designation of origin and could mislead the public into thinking the video is sponsored by or associated with Crush Entertainment's Ass Like Whoa brand, which has been on the market since November 2001.
West Coast Video was not available for comment.
