Hilton v. Hallmark Cards, No. 08-55443

In a trademark infringement and state tort action by celebrity Paris Hilton against the greeting card company Hallmark for using her image and catchphrase in a birthday card without her permission, a denial of defendant's motion to strike under California's anti-SLAPP statute is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff had some probability of prevailing on the merits before a trier of fact on the issue of whether defendant's use of her image was transformative; and 2) defendant could not employ the public interest defense because its birthday card did not publish or report information.

Read Hilton v. Hallmark Cards, No. 08-55443

Appellate Information

Argued and Submitted May 6, 2009

Filed August 31, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge O'Scannlain

Counsel

For Appellant:

Lincoln D. Bandlow, Spillane Shaeffer Aronoff Bandlow LLP, Los Angeles, CA

For Appellee:

Brent H. Blakely, Blakely Law Group, Hollywood, CA