February 5, 2002 11:45 AM PST  Playboy loses trademark tiff
Related Stories  Suit targets pay-for-play sites  January 31,
2002 A former Playboy Playmate can use the term "playmate" in
the metatags of her Web site, an appeals court has ruled.  The
ruling, by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, upholds a
lower-court ruling allowing 1981 Playmate of the Year Terri
Welles to describe herself as a "playmate" and use the term
"playboy."  The court ruled that Welles' use of the terms did
not violate Playboy's trademarks, as the adult magazine
publisher had argued.  "The metatags use only so much of the
marks as reasonably necessary, and nothing is done in
conjunction with them to suggest sponsorship or endorsement by
the trademark holder," the judges wrote.  Metatags are keywords
used to index Web sites. The judges said it is not practical to
expect Welles to use phrases such as "the nude model selected by
Mr. (Hugh) Hefner's organization," instead of "playmate," to
describe herself.  "Forcing Welles and others