Marketing Company Settles with Academy Over Gift Bags Given to Oscar Nominees

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - A Los Angeles marketing company that was sued for trademark infringement by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over the firm's distribution of gift bags to Oscar nominees announced tonight it has reached a settlement in the case.

Academy officials could not be reached late today for comment.

According to officials from Distinctive Assets, the settlement will allow the company to continue distributing its "Everybody Wins" gift bags to Oscar nominees. The company in turn agreed not to use Academy trademarks in the names or descriptions of the bags or their contents, but will "continue to accurately state that its gift bags are given to Oscar nominees."

The company will also include disclaimers in its materials to stress there is no association between Distinctive and the Academy.

"I am thrilled that the agreement reached with the Academy reflects the intention behind our legendary nominee gift bags, as everyone does in fact win as a result -- especially future nominees," said Lash Fary, founder of Distinctive Assets.

"My company's so-called 'swag bag' is no more officially sanctioned by the Academy than the gowns and jewels given to nominees to wear on the Oscar red carpet," Fary said. "It is simply one of dozens of promotions, parties and gift suites that happen throughout Los Angeles to celebrate Hollywood's biggest night."

According to the company, this year's gift bag included more than 50 gifts, ranging from vacation packages to skin-care products to beauty treatments, with a value of more than $200,000 per bag.

The Academy's lawsuit -- which was filed in February -- alleged that Distinctive Assets works to establish a connection between its activities and the Oscars, without Academy permission.

The Academy claimed that media coverage of this year's gift bags focused on "the less-than-wholesome nature of some of the products contained in the bags," citing a $5,500 certificate for plastic surgery, a $1,900 "vampire breast lift," a $250 sex toy and a $250 marijuana vaporizer.

The academy stopped giving out gift bags in 2007 after tax authorities began probing the practice.

--City News Service, photo courtesy of the AMPAS