A $200,000 gift bag that one marketing firm has promised to celebrities attending the Oscars ceremony, including a 'Vampire Breast Lift,' a laser skin-tightening procedure, and a 10-day first-class trip to Israel, is now the subject of a lawsuit in which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says it has no affiliation with the lavish presents. The organization filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday, accusing Distinctive Assets of promoting the gift bags as official Oscars swag.
Distinctive Assets uses the Academy's trademarks to raise the profile of its 'gift bags' and falsely create the impression of association, affiliation, connection, sponsorship and/or endorsement.
Academy lawsuit, which names the company's founder, Lash Fary, as a defendant
The lawsuit asked a federal judge to prevent Lash Fary from using any academy trademark and seeks compensation for damages as well as three times the amount of Fary's profits and the academy's legal fees. Gift bags have been a persistent headache over the years for the academy, which stopped giving gift baskets to presenters and performers in 2007 after the practice came under closer scrutiny by U.S. tax authorities.
