The musician famous for the twist dance style can sue Hewlett-Packard (HP) over allegations that the technology firm used his trademarked, name “Chubby Checker”, on a software application that purports to measure a man’s genitals.
In a ruling on Thursday, US District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled that Ernest Evans – known professionally as Chubby Checker – could move forward with trademark infringement claims against HP and its Palm unit.
HP spokesman Michael Thacker said on Friday that the app was not created by HP or Palm. “It was removed in September 2012 and is no longer on any Palm- or HP-hosted website,” Thacker said.
Chubby Checker gained fame in 1960 when his recording, The Twist, rose to number one on the Billboard singles chart, where it stayed for 18 consecutive weeks.
HP began offering the app, The Chubby Checker, for sale in 2006. It purports to estimate the size of a man’s genitals based on his shoe size. “The name Chubby Checker is thus used as a vulgar pun,” Judge Alsup wrote.
The musician informed HP that the app violated his trademark, and he sued earlier this year.
In an effort to dismiss the lawsuit, HP claimed that Evans failed to allege HP knew of the infringement. Judge Alsup rejected that argument, saying Evans had properly alleged that HP had a detailed application and approval process for the app, and thus knew it violated the trademark. – Reuters