Bids to use
‘Baywatch Hawaii’
name on hold
A preliminary injunction is
By Mary Adamski
issued to stop four businessmen who
wanted to make products using the
television show's name
Star-BulletinA federal judge has stopped four Oahu entrepreneurs from trying to profit from the "Baywatch Hawaii" television show by selling T-shirts, calendars or other products using the name.
Chief U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra issued a preliminary injunction against the businessmen who had registered Baywatch trade names with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
Seth Reiss, attorney for the Baywatch Production Co. of California, said the court also ordered all the Baywatch titles stricken from the state registry. Ezra's decision followed a July 23 hearing but has not yet been issued in printed form.
The injunction will be in effect pending a trial on the suit filed in June by the television company. Reiss said no trial date has been set.
"We are working with the defendants to settle the case," Reiss said. "Baywatch Production Co. is interested in convincing the defendants to stop the illegitimate use of the Baywatch name. They are interested in protecting their rights."
Each of the four Oahu men went to the state business registration office on April 5, the first business day after Gov. Ben Cayetano announced that the television series had committed to film in Hawaii.
Larry Rutkowski of Pearl City registered the title Baywatch Hawaii, saying he intended to produce T-shirts and sports and water wear.
Rutkowski said yesterday that he did not hire an attorney and did not attend the July 23 court hearing.
"At this point we haven't talked settlement."
He said he understands that the television series logo with "Baywatch" and the sun setting behind a lifeguard stand is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
"What I seem to hear is that the logo with the word in that particular calligraphy and the lifeguard stand is copyrighted, not the word itself. Baywatch is pretty much a generic word," Rutkowski said.
"I went down and did a lawful act as a citizen of Hawaii and registered the name. They didn't register Baywatch Hawaii."
M. Ayman El-Dakhakhni, president of Comprehensive Health and Attitude Management Programs Inc., registered a total of 10 titles using Baywatch and Baywatch Hawaii Cafe, Wear, Fashion, Design and Tours.
He was the only one of the four to be represented by an attorney at the court hearings.
His attorney, Sidney Quintal, said last month: "We believe Baywatch is in the public domain. It's a stretch to say if they have a patent on the logo, somehow they own the name Baywatch."
Quintal did not respond to requests for comment this week.
Darrell Young of Pearl City registered a general partnership under the name Baywatch Adventures Hawaii, a travel and tour business.
Thomas E. Caprio of Honolulu filed to use Hawaii Baywatch Calendar Girls and Aloha Baywatch Calendar Girls.
"It's specific in the instructions that state registration doesn't convey ownership," said state Securities Commissioner Ryan Ushijima, head of the business registration office. "Federal registration or prior use trumps the state registration.
"The state registration is a public bulletin board of all the names people have registered with the intent of exerting some use," he said. "It is just a beginning for a business person wanting to build and protect a name. We get a lot of names registered, but not used. Or they can simply be using the name in the marketplace without registering it."
