Hot "Live" Moms meet Bizarre Intellectual Property Policy

The surreal reality of our LA-lives becomes more obvious, the more I am become aware of Set-Top Issues. The LA Times (the very good Gina Piccalo) reports on how reality "stars" are trademarking ideas like "hot mom." I guess it makes sense that reality TV would be good for IP lawyers.

It's great to hear of such wackiness. But enjoy for yourself:

Nearly two years ago, Denay said, she had applied to trademark the terms "hot mom" and "hot mom's club" but had not applied for the rights to those terms in TV. So, Denay said, in August she applied to expand her trademark to include use of "hot moms" in all media. A week later, Medicis and the "Hottest Mom" producers filed their own application to trademark the term "Hottest Mom in America." Both applications are pending approval. Medicis attorneys wouldn't comment on details of the dispute but in a company statement said Medicis with Buzznation "created and developed the concept for this program entirely independently, and this individual's unfounded allegation to the contrary is false. As substantial momentum builds for this program, it is unfortunate, though hardly surprising, that this sort of opportunism would occur."

Link