Furniture Retailer Loses Infringement Suit Over Bogart Name

May 16, 2011  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 17, 2011 Bogart LLC, the owner of all intellectual property rights of the late film legend Humphrey Bogart, has settled its federal lawsuit against a group of furniture stores.

Plummers Furniture, Scandinavian Designs, and Dania were sued regarding the unauthorized sale of a furniture line called Bogart. The three retailers are part of the same operating group.

Bogart LLC filed the lawsuit last year alleging violation of the California post-mortem right of publicity statute and trademark infringement. Terms of the settlement agreement are confidential.

"We could not be more pleased with the result," said Robbert de Klerk of Bogart LLC.  "We hope that the settlement of this lawsuit sends a clear message that infringements of Humphrey Bogart's name and image do not pay and will be prosecuted."

Bogart LLC is jointly owned by Los Angeles-based private equity fund Orange Equity and the children of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Stephen Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Bogart.

Bogart and Bacall starred together in the classic films "To Have and Have Not," "The Big Sleep," "Dark Passage" and "Key Largo." Bogart appeared in more than 70 films throughout his 30-year acting career, including starring roles in the film classics "Casablanca," "The Maltese Falcon," "Treasure of the Sierra Madre," "The Caine Mutiny," and "The African Queen," for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1952. 

Bogart is ranked by the American Film Institute http://www.afi.com/ as the No. 1 American male screen legend, ahead of such film legends as Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando, John Wayne, and Clark Gable.