Chubby Checker, HP Reach Settlement Over Penis-Measuring App

It’s been more than a year since a dispute between singer Chubby Checker and Hewlitt-Packard over a penis-measuring app plunged this country into darkness, dividing households, pitting brother against brother, leaving deep scars from which we may never heal — but which will always stand as a reminder of an era we’d all like to forget. Finally, the two parties have put aside their differences for the sake of generations to come, and reached a settlement.

For those who have attempted to stay out of this bloody fray, the “Twist” singer sued HP and its Palm subsidiary in early 2013 for $500 million dollars, alleging that HP violated his trademark by allowing a genitals-sizing app that used the “Chubby Checker” name on its app stores as far back as 2006.

The app in question was removed in 2012. In all those years, the $.99 offering had been downloaded fewer than 100 times, meaning HP’s share of the alleged trademark infringement was at most $30.

Checker, known to his family as Ernest Evans, had also alleged violations of the Communications Decency Act, but the court dismissed that allegation because HP did not actually create the app.

No one knows how much money, if any, HP is paying to settle the deal, but the company has promised it won’t use Mr. Checker’s likeness or any of this trademarks.

[via Ars Technica]

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