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Celebrity Justice
Oprah: 'Aha!' I Got You!

Posted Apr 24th 2009 11:27AM by TMZ Staff

Oprah Winfrey just had another Aha! Moment -- when she decided to wage a legal war against an insurance company using her signature catchphrase.

Oprah Winfrey

Just a few days ago, Oprah's lawyers fired off a cease and desist letter to Mutual of Omaha demanding they shut down their plans to run a gigantic advertising campaign with the slogan, "Official sponsor of the aha moment."

In the letter, sent April 21, Oprah's peeps claim they have the rights to the "Aha Moment" slogan and they threatened to sue because O doesn't want Mutual to mislead her fans into thinking she's associated with them.

But Mutual of Omaha is fighting back with a lawsuit, claiming that even if Oprah had trademark rights to the phrase, she "abandoned" those rights by failing to "police their alleged mark" when other businesses used it in the past.

In the suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Nebraska, Mutual asks the judge to rule that they have the right to use the phrase in their campaign.

A rep for O tells us, "Harpo has not filed a lawsuit or counterclaim against Mutual of Omaha. We hope to reach an amicable resolution on this issue."

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Tags: aha moment, cease and desist, CeaseAndDesist, lawsuit, mutual of omaha bank, O, oprah, oprah winfrey

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1. Get a life oprah you whiner

Posted at 11:33AM on Apr 24th 2009 by Riverboy

2. WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT NOOOOOOOOO WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Posted at 11:31AM on Apr 24th 2009 by REYNA

3. damn .. that sucks ass

Posted at 11:31AM on Apr 24th 2009 by Queen Bee

4. Not even God-Queen Oprah can stand toe to toe with the legal team of an insurance company.

Give it up Oprah... you don't have the money to fight this one.

... and it's just stupid anyway.

Posted at 11:32AM on Apr 24th 2009 by Joe Mama

5. get over urself lady...u friggin think u own the whole world..ur ass might, but u dont..my god..remember where u started..cant wait till ur off the air...retire already.

Posted at 11:33AM on Apr 24th 2009 by ssooo not a fan

6.
Oprah thinks she rules the world. Not this time sweetheart!

Posted at 11:35AM on Apr 24th 2009 by SickofTMZ

7. She is not the first person to use that phrase!!! That is so ridiculous!!! not only is she totally untalented, but she think she owns everything. Cant stand her.

Posted at 1:09PM on Apr 24th 2009 by Rich CT

8. How silly! We have bigger fish to fry Oprah. The world's a mess and your worried about copyrights? Yuc!

Posted at 11:36AM on Apr 24th 2009 by Kellie

9. This woman is full of herself. Talk about rich getting greedier!! Stop throwing your weight around woman!!! Stick to your money-making issues on your show. Don't take it to the road.

Posted at 11:37AM on Apr 24th 2009 by rao

10. I wonder how the band AHA feels about this.

Posted at 11:39AM on Apr 24th 2009 by mrjohn08

11. harpo is an enormous bully, who will one day bully the wrong person or people.

Posted at 11:38AM on Apr 24th 2009 by artie help

12. That phrase needs to die along with "teachable moment." Who are the losers that actually still watch this boring smug self-important woman? She is dangerous, too much influence with too little intelligence and too much arrogance.

Posted at 11:47AM on Apr 24th 2009 by Nope-rah

13. Oprah doesn't own the aha moment......that was around before her......she thinks she owns everything, including the president. I hope someone finally shows her.

I'm so off Oprah. Every since Katrina and her vist to louisiana. I will never watch her show or buy her magazine.

Posted at 11:41AM on Apr 24th 2009 by South

14. This woman is obnoxious. She has such an entitlement mentality. Everything should be hers and she should be involved in everyting.

Posted at 11:46AM on Apr 24th 2009 by kira

15. She has no rights since she hasn't even filed for trademark protection. Mutual of Omaha filed for it last August. And another company in FL filed for it last June.

And whoever said Oprah thinks she owns everyone and everything is soooo right. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Posted at 11:47AM on Apr 24th 2009 by m

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