Posted at 11:20 a.m., Tuesday, August 7, 2001
Surfvivor company sues over confusion with TV show
Bloomberg News Service
The Honolulu-based T-shirt and sunscreen company Surfvivor Media Inc. is suing producers of the television show "Survivor" to keep them from selling their own sunscreen under the name of the highly rated program.
Surfvivor and its president, Peter S. Deptula, say they have been using the name to sell T-shirts and other clothing since 1986, and Surfvivor lip balm and sunscreen since at least 1997. Viacom Inc.'s CBS began airing the reality show in May 2000, featuring a group of strangers brought to a deserted area to compete for $1 million.
The lawsuit says consumers became confused when companies associated with the TV show started selling Survivor clothing and sunscreen in the same areas as Surfvivor products. The sunscreens sometimes are placed next to each other on store shelves, said Surfvivor lawyer Paul Maki.
"We got a letter from a customer who saw the products and thought our client was trying to rip off the TV show," Maki said. "When they started doing T-shirts, no one got particularly excited. But when they started expanding the product line it became a problem."
Named as defendants are Survivor Productions LLC, CBS Inc., CBS Broadcasting, CBS Worldwide and WPC Brands Inc., which was granted a license to sell Survivor sunscreen and lip balm. CBS spokesman Chris Ender couldn't immediately be reached in Los Angeles.
"Survivor" became the most-watched U.S. summer television series ever last year. This year's series wasn't as popular, although it regularly topped ratings.
The suit says Surfvivor has sold clothing under licensing agreements with universities, used the name on baseball caps sold at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel's gift shop, and sold its sunscreen at stores around Hawai'i, Guam, Canada and over the Internet. Products are sold in 25 U.S. states, Maki said.
A trademark for the Surfvivor name on T-shirts was granted in 1992, and for the name on surfboards, sunscreens and lip balms in 1997, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site.
The site also lists 256 trademarks using variations of the word "survivor," including names of plants, computer software and animal feed.
