Body Heat Battle

Things are heating up for Parfums de Coeur Ltd., a perfume company headquartered on Old Kings Highway North in Darien.

According to a recent Business Week report, Pipedream, a Los Angeles-based body lotion and intimacy oil company, has sued the Connecticut company for trademark infringement; they claim Parfums de Coeur's Body Heat is a rip off of their own Body Heat products; and the confusion, they say, has cost them "substantial" profits.

Pipedream registered Body Heat with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1997. In a complaint filed Feb. 2 in federal court, the company alleges no such registration exists for the Parfums de Coeur's Body Heat; selling the new fragrance is a "blatant disregard of Pipedream's rights," they say.

The marketing is misleading, Pipedream says in its pleadings, and the public may well assume an endorsement or approval of the new product. As a result of the alleged infringement, Pipedream claims to have suffered "substantial damages," while Parfums de Coeur, they say, has reaped "substantial profits," through sales both online and at chain discounters and drug stores nationwide.

Pipedream has requested a ban on Parfums de Coeur's use of "Body Heat," a recall on all merchandise already distributed, and a "seizure and destruction" of all allegedly infringing Body Heat products.

The company also seeks an award of litigation costs, attorney fees and a reimbursement of damages—three times over.

Parfums de Coeur markets Body Heat as "a strikingly new fragrance with intense warmth and strength that is sexy, masculine and long-lasting." They say the "hottest men's fragrance ever created" has an "explosive!" effect on women.

Pipedream advertisements for Body Heat circa 1997 suggest the edible lotions and intimacy oils will "add a lick of heat to your seduction."

The case is Pipedream Products Inc., v. Parfums de Coeur Ltd., 2:10-cv-00744-DDP-AGR, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).