Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner filed a $5 million lawsuit against toy giant Hasbro in September, after the toy manufacturer released a toy hamster in its "Littlest Pet Shop" line that carried that same name as the newscaster. Now, Hasbro has fired back, requesting a federal judge drop all the charges asserting that the inch-tall plastic hamster bears no resemblance to the newscaster, according to NBC News.
Faulkner's lawsuit states that by using her name, Hasbro has "willfully and wrongfully appropriated Faulkner's unique and valuable name and distinctive persona" for its gain. She also stated that the little hamster bears a "physical resemblance to her traditional professional appearance, in particular the tone of its complexion, the shape of its eyes, and the design of its eye makeup," reports MSN Entertainment.
However, Hasbro's rebuttal, which was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., states that the toy's name is irrelevant, and that "a side-by-side comparison of Ms. Faulkner and the Hamster Toy shows that the two bear absolutely no resemblance."
Hasbro even went the extra mile, submitting a 37-page document that clearly drew the line between "The Fictional Hamster Toy Named Harris Faulkner" and "The Real-Life Adult Woman Named Harris Faulkner." From the difference in species, the color of the toy hamster's fur, and the shade of its eyes, Hasbro rebutted all of Faulkner's points.
Faulkner will now be given the chance to respond to Hasbro's rebuttal.
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