Flower Tucci Files a Trademark Lawsuit Against RK Netmedia et al.
 

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Flower Tucci has filed a trademark lawsuit in US District Court Central District of California against RK Netmedia, Inc of Florida. Also named in the suit are NET 227 Inc of Florida; Eddie Collins, an individual, Scorching Sands Inc., a Florida Corporation; LLL Advertising, Inc, a Florida corporation; Adam Nalepowski, an individual; Michael Puszkarz, an indivdual; T. Kgels, an individual; and NAMECHEAP, Inc., a Delaware Corporation.

Representing Tucci are attorneys Michael Fattorosi and Michael D. Kuznetsky of Fattorosi & Associates.

Tucci is suing for infringement of trademark, trademark dilution, false designation of origin and unfair competition; contributory trademark infringement; cyber squatting in violation of 15 U.S.C. 1125; cyber squatting in violation of 15 U.S.C. 1129; cyber squatting in violation of California Business and Professions Code 17525; common law misappropriation of likeness and commercial misappropriation of likeness under California Civil Code 3344.

Tucci is demanding a jury trial.

The lawsuit goes on to cite claims of trademark infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C., 1051 and claims under the common law and statutory law of the state of California.

Tucci is described as being in the business of providing entertainment services in the nature of live acting, dancing and modeling for adult performances, adult publications, public appearances and entertainment via the Internet.

According to the suit, Tucci has been using that performing name as early as August 1, 2002. Tucci is also the owner of United States Trademark registration no. 3,422,070 for the trademark Flower Tucci. That was registered on May 6, 2008. Tucci?s corporation is Flower Tucci Entertainment, Inc.

According to the claims, Tucci has been using her trademark continuously and extensively since first adopting it. Moreover, the suit claims, Tucci has invested significant amounts of time, effort and resources to promote her services under her trademark in commerce throughout the US and worldwide.

As a result of her extensive use of the MARK, the public has come to identify Tucci with her trademark both in the US and internationally. By virtue of her marketing efforts and expenditures and the excellence of her products, Tucci, according to the suit, has achieved a distinctive and valuable reputation and degree of goodwill.

The suit also details Tucci?s accomplishments in the adult entertainment industry which include appearances in the Showtime series, Family Business; appearances in over 400 adult movies; and the fact that she hosted two KSEX radio shows, called The Porn Hunnies and Tushy Talk.

The suit also cites various awards that Tucci, who?s gained worldwide acclaim for her squirting capabilities, has received throughout her adult career. In addition, Tucci has also worked as a spokes model for the LA-based clothing company Mofoware.

Tucci alleges that RK Netmedia of Florida is in the business of producing, manufacturing, distributing and selling adult motion pictures via the Internet.

The suit goes on to state that RK Netmedia does business in California and advertises its products and services there through its websites and therefore avails itself of California law. The suit also alleges that RK Netmedia had conspired with the other defendants to engage in the wrongful conduct outlined in the suit.

Defendant NET 227 of Florida, like RK Netmedia, also does business in California and avails itself of California law. NAMECHEAP does business as Whois Guard. It provides anonymous domain name registration for websites and also does business in California.

Defendant Scorching Sands is a Florida corporation and also does business in California. LLL Advertising, Inc. is a Florida corporation also doing business in California. They produce, manufacture, distribute and sell adult motion pictures via The Internet.

Defendant Eddie Collins is a resident of Los Angeles. Defendant Adam Nalepowski does business in California. Defendant Michael Puszkarz also does business in California.

Defendant T. Kgels who resides in the Netherlands, owns, operates and controls the website domain name located at www.thumbblogger.com. Kgels, likewise does business in California.

Tucci in the suit states that the defendants are liable for damages and reliefs. No figure is specified.

On or about November 30, 2008, NET 227 and DOE 1 registered the website domain name club-flowertucci.com without her knowledge, authority or consent. The website not only featured Tucci?s likeness but also links to flowertucci.com which Tucci believes is owned, controlled and operated by RK Netmedia and/or LLL Advertising and DOE 2.

According to the suit, DOE 3 and DOE 4 anonymously registered the website domain names flowertuccipix.com and flowertuccivideos.com through NAMECHEAP on or about April 3, 2007 and May 14, 2007, respectively without her knowledge, authority and consent.

Tucci believes those sites are owned, operated and controlled by DOE 3 and DOE 4. Tucci also contends that NAMECHEAP continues to provide registration for those websites which feature Tucci?s likeness while also linking to flowertucci.com.

On or about March 13, 2007, Collins also registered the website domain name flowertuccinude.com without Tucci?s apparent knowledge or approval. The site also features Tucci?s likeness and links to a web page on realitykings.com which Tucci believes is owned and operated by LLL Advertising, RK Netmedia and DOE 5.

On or about March 21st, 2007, Michael Puszkarz registered the website flower-tucci-review.com without her knowledge. This site as well features her likeness and links to flowertucci.com

On or about March 28th, 2007, Adam Nalepowski registered the website domain name flower-tucci-x.com without her knowledge. That site also features her likeness and links to flowertucci.com.

On or about April 23rd, 2007, Scorching Sands and DOE 6 registered the website domain name flowertuccisblog.com without her knowledge, authority or consent. Tucci believes that site is owned and operated by Sands and DOE 6. The site also prominently features her likeness and links to flowertucci.com.

Defendant T. Kgels, DOE 7 and DOE 8, according to the suit, then registered the website domain names flowertucci.thumbblogger.com and flowertuccianal.thumbblogger.com with her knowledge, authority and consent. The sites also feature her likeness and trademark.

According to Tucci, the defendants conduct is likely to cause confusion in the marketplace and that their conduct will cause potential customers to believe that their goods and service are somehow affiliated with her, sponsored or endorsed by her which they are not.

The suit also contends that the registration and redirection of websites containing her likeness and trademark is a deliberate attempt to trade on her goodwill, prestige and reputation.

Tucci alleges that the defendants conduct has caused and will continue to cause significant damages including lost sales and profits and irreparable harm.

Collectively club-flowertucci.com, flowertuccipix.com, flowertuccivideos.com, flowertuccinude.com, flowertuccisblog.com, flower-tucci-x-com, flower-tucci-review.com; flower_tucci.thumbblogger.com and flowertuccianal.thumbblogger.com are referred to as the infringing sites.

Tucci is asking for punitive damages, attorneys fees, injunctive relief; disgorgement of all gains, profits and advantages derived by defendants; actual compensatory damages in an amount according to proof at trial; special compensatory damages according to proof at trial and that the court award of actual damages be trebled pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1117.

Attorney Fattorosi had no comment.

glad i never promoted her

That is quite the allegation... I hope she can back that up! :1orglaugh

surprised there aren't more of these

Sounds like she will probably win.

let me get this straight
she's going after all the domains contaning her name and NOT FlowerTucci.com which i'm sure RK legally owns. Some of these sites promote RK's site at FlowerTucci.com.

What an idiotic lawsuit filed by inexperienced attorneys, who thru everything and the kitchen sink at it.

And one has to wonder how she's paying for this lawsuit or who's financing it.
Thats a lot of squirting to pay for something as worthless as this.

Pathetic.

Michael Fattorosi is not in this to loose. This guy is not gonna waste his time if he thinks he is gonna loose.


Getting sued sux serious ass!!!

Michael Fattorosi will be a able to subpoena people at will. Having to fly out to LA for depositions and for trial can start sucking real fast!!!


I will put money that they will give the name up after the whole company gets subpoenaed a few time to La court.





Then again, they might fight it tooth and nail because the court fight is a tax write off.:2 cents:

I concur...

Who in their right frame of mind would promote her after this stunt?

Also without RK, flower Tucci would be just another model who takes it up the back door on a regular basis, staggering really when one bites the hand that feeds.

I think it's noble. She's protecting her brand. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are going to be plenty of lawsuits filed very similar to this as more brands get encroached upon. Sign of the times I guess.
Duke

Noble? Are you serious?

yes forgot to mention that part as well.

I still dont get what this case is about, as far as i can tell it has nothing to do with a site at www.flowertucci.com.

perhaps Gene Ross doesn't know anything about tm law and simply omitted all the important facts from this case....

She is suing them over a site like this: ?
http://flowertuccianal.thumblogger.com/

Is she stupid or what?

Most of those sites were registered before she got the trademark..
Does that make a difference.

Saw her in a recent shoot, she's getting old this must be her pension fund she's going after.

I think rkmedia be ok..

...zot!

You guys have missed the main points.

1. There is presumably good money worth fighting over.
2. It pays to have a registered TM and a brand.
3. Webmasters need better contracts with business partners.

there is more money in escorting, than frivolous litigation.

You know they have no case once they start throwing registrars and free blog hosting sites into the mix

Points 1 and 3 are very valid although point 3 is probably out of most webmasters league especially if they are part time. Re: point 2, where would the brand be without the efforts of people who contributed towards promoting that brand. Look at the date when she regged the tm, was that so that in a couple of years she could go round sueing everyone and retire off the profits?

i know very little about hollywood and stage name laws
but as far as i can tell, her TM application might be invalid as she clearly lied in it.


i hate this interweb thingy, its all available for everyone to see.

http://cachecdn.realitykings.com/fw/girls/top2.jpg


smoking hot.

it takes a long time to get the trademark approved, she could have applied quite a while before getting it appoved:2 cents:

She's hot, even if she's a little misguided (thick).

I wonder what Ernesto makes of all this :1orglaugh

A very similar suit was filed by the same attorney last October on behalf of Devinn Lane. I've not heard anything about how that has gone.

WoW I see BIG ASS :)

i want to know what nasty dollars has to say about this. their affiliates are being sued.

In October 2008, Lane filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Digital Playground, Vivid Entertainment Group, Moniker Online Services among other companies alleging that they profited from domain names similar to her performer name and did not compensate her. The defendants in the lawsuit say it is a frivilous lawsuit and it is a retaliation lawsuit for her career as a contract girl ending due to her age and lack of public demand for her services.
http://business.avn.com/articles/33005.html



So this lawfirm is molding itself into retired pornstar ambulance chasers ?

It sure does. RK aka Reality Kings owns FlowerTucci.com

yea. wtf? glad i've touched anything related to her. suing regular webmasters for having flowertucci in the name and promoting ND. amazing

we get that part sherlock
its just gene ross' article does not mention that URL. Plus i would assume RK has all the rights from FLower Tucci to that URL.

you're fucked in the head...

LMAO!

How fucking stupid. they are promoting her and she is sueing them for it?

Forgive me if i'm wrong couldn't be assed to read the whole load of BS.

This made me lol:

flower_tucci.thumbblogger.com and flowertuccianal.thumbblogger.com

not gonna lie, this line made me giggle:

"The suit also cites various awards that Tucci, who’s gained worldwide acclaim for her squirting capabilities, "

lolz

sounds like a model not liking her contract and trying to get her name back using trademark law as an end run around the contract.

really depends on how good the contract is, weather cede contract licienced the trademark.

note to webmasters, do a deal with a solo girl make sure that there is a clause in the contract that explictly liciences you any and all trademarks pertaining to ....

I haven't ever heard of her before.. and what part of her likeness are those sites? Tucci is also slang for Woman.

I can understand why she wants to protect her tm, I can respect that. But going after the affiliates is slitting your own throat.

Who is she again? Nevermind... never promoted her and never will.

I think the point is that all the promotion is going into something that "she" doesn't own or gain benefit from. It appears that RK, not her, is the one reaping all the benefit from said promotion so she isn't really slitting her own throat if that's the case. Good luck to her. She's a cool chick.

clif notes anyone?

Not being a being a big fan of Gene....just thought I would alert webmasters and RK of what?s being said.....Genes site is an online version of the National Enquirer so my take to that is check your sources and don?t EVER believe what you just read just cause it was posted on the net.....It could be a huge publicity scam/stunt designed to get her name back in play and get you affiliates to promo her shit....however I don?t think Michael Fattorosi and Michael D. Kuznetsky of Fattorosi & Associates take cases of this nature on a retainer of a BJ.....they are PITBULLS coming into/onto the world of adult legality...otherwise meaning they aren?t 1st year chasers fresh out of Law school and that just passed the bar.....these guys don?t fuck around. So it basically comes down to someone didn?t or forgot to pay someone consecutively according to some legal paperwork/documents....Why the fuck if shit was going right over at RK is she going to bite the hand that feeds her or would she sue anyone related to doing so?.someone (Flower Tucci) is not making some real significant $$$ (being scammed or so she thinks) and wants her/some bling (domains/cut of the profit). No one files lawsuits without the intention of seeking a large settlement?.firstly it costs big $$$ to initiate legal proceedings of any kind?.even in small claims to the best of my knowledge reason being if it would be FREE access?.everybody would be suing someone about some extremely frivolous lawsuit and the courts would be even jammed up then they are at present. So some things afoot?..hell didn?t OX Ideas sue a third party for using leading TM domains?.something to do with their ?flagship? BangBus not too long ago?.I also think they won?.and the defendants had to relinquish control of said sites over to BangBros.

Just like a certain ?King of Pop? settled out of court at least one case??I am sure that there have been just a few of these that we will never hear about?..

You don?t know what?s in the paperwork of the case?.maybe RK doesn?t technically outright own the domains?(I already went over the lawyer part in the beginning). Just cause the Net was new and you decided to reg?I don?t know maybe ?Coke Cola??.doesn?t mean that the Coca-Cola Corporation is going to let you use it as you may because you beat them to the punch?.all cyber squatting aside??they had the trademark way before the net was invented?..just ask Al Gore?..as he invented the interweb.



In a cheesy 1990?s movie starring Steven Seagal one of the characters said??.?And you can take that to the bank???JustDave knows his shit. Fattorosi don?t fuck around?.he has got better?more important things to do?..really.

Another case of Duke aint no dummy?..another person who KNOWS his shit!

And they say GFY doesn?t have any intelligent people around??.i say to that hogwash?.two people in a row knocked it out of the park.


Daddy shoots?..and scores!



That?s why I thought I pass it on?..if the ?talent? aint getting paid according to contract?..just imagine to what the little lackies are getting?.or in this case?.not getting.

I would LOVE to hear their side of the story.


WHOA?.another BINGO!



Unless they fucked you?..BIG TIME!

Crazy bitches...

What. The. Fuck. So she is sueing people for promoting her? Awesome move.

So she is going after domain registrars, like Moniker, because they "profit" a whopping $.25 per domain that a random person registers which includes the phrase "Flower Tucci." That's a new one.

By the way Slav, jump on ICQ if you see this.

She is when she either loses her case or wins and gets so little it doesn't pay the legal fees. Then in a few years she'll be out of porn washed up and stripping at some club and sucking dick for $50.

I'm rooting for RK Netmedia on this one

Frivilous lawsuit.

RK Netmedia, gather a lot of discovery a freaken lot, and rack up those billable hours for your attorneys cuz she'll be paying them in the end.

Wait wait she registered her trademark AFTER all the domains were created?

"That was registered on May 6, 2008"

While all the sites were created in 2007 ... good luck on that one

So she's going after webmasters who are promoting her via RK Netmedia? Is she serious?

Like Slav mentioned though, it seems she's going after webmasters as FlowerTucci.com doesn't seem to be a defendent, just the webmasters linking to it. Huh? Am I reading this wrong?
WG

The sequence does not matter if her lawyers can establish her previous public use of the trademark.

Still a Frivilous lawsuit.

RK Netmedia is named in the suit also.

Naming them as a party allows them to subpoena their records and conduct discovery in regards to domain ownership. It is actually a fairly standard tactic in trying to obtain the John Doe info.