Kim Kardashian West is suing an Alabama doctor for using her name and picture without her consent to market a “vampire facial” that she had on an episode of Kourtney and Kim Take Miami in 2013. The “vampire facial” utilizes your own blood and a micro-needling method to restore the skin.

Dr. Charles Runels of coastal Fairhope, Alabama, was dragged to court by West on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The lawsuit says that after West uploaded a photo of herself on social media displaying the benefits of a “Vampire Facial,” Runels utilized her image in advertising materials.”

According to E! News, the 39-year-lawyer old’s filed a suit for ‘copyright infringement, infringement of a registered mark, false association, violation of the right of publicity, and California common law trademark infringement.’

CREDIT: KIM KARDASHIAN/INSTAGRAM

Where it started: On an episode of Kourtney & Kim Take Miami in 2013, Kim received a “vampire facial.” Following that, Kardashian West shared a blood-splattered selfie on Instagram. Kim wrote a blog entry on her website (since gone) five years later, in which she expressed remorse for getting the facial and stated that she would not do it again. It’s worth mentioning that she was pregnant at the time of the facial, which meant she couldn’t use analgesics or numbing lotion, making for an “extremely uncomfortable experience,” as she put it in 2018.

‘Defendant Charles Runels is a doctor in Alabama. In characteristically self-promoting fashion, he describes himself alternatively as the ‘Orgasm Doctor’ and the ‘Calvin Klein of medicine,” according to court filings.

‘To that end, while he appears to maintain a small practice in Alabama, most of his time is spent touting the various cosmetic procedures he has purported to trademark—including, as relevant here, the Vampire Facial.’

The filings go on to say that while Kim and her sister Kourtney did ‘get’ Vampire Facials and it was shown on the program, it was years ago and the sisters ‘never licensed their name in connection with the procedure.’

Runels has utilized Kardashian West’s name and picture in his practice’s advertising brochures, website, and even on his own LinkedIn profile, according to the suit.

“Upon further investigation, Ms. Kardashian was horrified to discover that her name and likeness were plastered all over Runels’ website (http://www.vampirefacial.com),” the documents state. “Just below a post disclaiming any association with the Vampire Facial provider from which patients had contracted HIV is a photo captioned, ‘Bar [Refaeli] & Kim Receive the Vampire Facial® Procedure.’”

Runels did not conduct Kardashian West’s facial, but he claims to be the owner of the “Vampire Facial” trademark.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Runels, 59, said West used his trademarked term for a medical treatment to promote herself. The case was “disappointing,” he said.

“We’re trying to do good medicine. The last thing we want to do is spend millions of dollars arguing with a celebrity,” he said.

Kim’s lawyer claims that they had already requested Dr Runels, who calls himself the “Orgasm Doctor” and the “Calvin Klein of medicine,” to remove the photographs and her identity, and that while he denied their request, he also asked her for money.

‘When Ms. Kardashian reached out to Runels and his trademark attorney to demand that he cease using her name and likeness without her consent, he not only refused to take down the pictures of her and references to her; he had the temerity to demand that she pay him,’ it read.

”The Defendants’ use of Ms. Kardashian’s name and likeness is not, and never has been, authorized. The Defendants have never sought Ms. Kardashian’s permission to use her as a ‘face’ for their products and services, and Ms. Kardashian has never given such permission.’

“Ms. Kardashian’s actual endorsement for a nationwide campaign such as this would command a fee well into eight figures (assuming she would even agree to do such a campaign, which she most assuredly would not).”

“As of December 2017 he was charging ‘over 650 medical providers’ about $190,000 per month from licensing fees for approximately 2000 ‘licenses,'” according to the lawsuit.

Dr. Runels published a blog entry on the Vampire Facial website, although Kardashian West is yet to make a public comment. He claims that the reality star did not ask him to use the Vampire Facial name to promote Kourtney & Kim Take Miami. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Charles E. Runels, Jr. is the registrant of the “Vampire Facial” trademark application, which was filed in 2013 and took effect two months before the Vampire Facial episode of Kourtney & Kim Take Miami aired.

It also says: “He will remove all mention of Kardashian West’s name and all images of her face from his websites — as if she never had the procedure at all.”