Hooters of America, the restaurant chain known for its skimpily clad waitresses, is suing a Florida escort service it says tarnished Hooters' trademarks as it sought to hire away its employees.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, says that Nikkis' Escort Service and its proprietor Nikki Swafford posted ads on the Tampa site of Craigslist.com stating: "Now Hiring Hooters Girls $100 Per Hour."
The ads were accompanied by a photo of women wearing the chains' official uniform.
Hooters argued that Nikki's tarnished its trademarks, including its signature owl logo.
"(Hooters) spends millions of dollars annually marketing their brands...throughout the United States," says the complaint.
Atlanta-based Hooters is a privately held corporation with 375 locations in the United States, as well as in 28 countries, court papers said. The company has filed 13 lawsuits alleging trademark infringement and been involved in more than 127 federal lawsuits since 1991, according to court documents.
Hooters also named San Francisco-based Craigslist Inc as a defendant for failing to take down the ads after Hooters sent a notice of abuse to the website's operators.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/27/us-usa-hooters-idUSBRE9BQ0HH20131227
