Warning: once you’ve read what we’re about to say, you’ll never be able to think of legendary singer Chubby Checker the same way. The man behind “The Twist” is suing the makers of an app that measures a man’s endowment, anatomy-wise, because well, he doesn’t want to be associated with that particular piece of equipment.

Attorneys filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 71-year-old singer — whose real name is Ernest Evans — on Monday in federal court against Hewlett-Packard and its subsidiary Palm Inc., reports the TCPalm news services.

The lawsuit claims that Hewlett-Packard and Palm Inc. maintain the Palm APP Catalog, a web-based store that sells apps for Palm smartphones. “The Chubby Checker,” according to the lawsuit, has been offered since Oct. 6, 2006.

The app claims to estimate the size of a man’s member based on his shoe size. For those not in the know — How can we put this delicately? Or can we? Nope — “chubby” is slang for an erection. As such, the singer claims his name is trademarked for use in his entertainment dealings and shouldn’t be used for the app’s pun purposes.

“Defendants’ use of the name ‘Chubby Checker’ in its app is likely to associate plaintiff’s (trade) marks with the obscene, sexual connotation and images,” the lawsuit says, and that the app is “blurring and tarnishing” the singer’s trademark.

“Purchasers of ‘The Chubby Checker’ app and non-purchasing browsers of the associated Web page are being misled into believing that plaintiffs have endorsed defendant’s app,” the lawsuit states, adding that the singer hasn’t received any compensation for the unauthorized use of his trademark.

The lawsuit asks for the companies to immediately stop using the Chubby Checker name and seeks all profits the defendants have made off the app.

“This lawsuit is about preserving the integrity and legacy of a man who has spent years working hard at his musical craft and has earned the position of one of the greatest musical entertainers of all time,” the singer’s attorney said in a statement. “We cannot sit idly and watch as technology giants or anyone else exploits the name or likeness of an innocent person with the goal of making millions of dollars. The defendants have marketed Chubby Checkers’ name on their product to gain a profit and this just isn’t right.”

Chubby Checker’s federal lawsuit has sexual twist, Gary law firm in Stuart says [TCPalm.com]

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