Humphrey Bogart Estate Settles Federal Lawsuit Against Major Furniture Retailers

LOS ANGELES, May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Bogart LLC, the owner of all intellectual property rights of the late film legend Humphrey Bogart, has settled its federal lawsuit against furniture retailers Plummers, Scandinavian Designs, and Dania regarding their unauthorized sale of a furniture line called "Bogart."   Bogart LLC filed the action in May 2010, alleging violation of California's post-mortem right of publicity statute, and trademark infringement.  The case proceeded before Judge Gary A. Feess in the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.  The terms of the settlement agreement are confidential.

"We could not be more pleased with the result," stated 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 (www.HumphreyBogart.com) is jointly owned by Los Angeles-based private equity fund Orange Equity and the children of Mr. 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.  Mr. Bogart appeared in more than 70 films throughout his thirty-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.  Mr. Bogart is ranked by the American Film Institute as the Number One American Male Screen Legend, ahead of such film legends as Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando, John Wayne, and Clark Gable.  On March 14, 2011, Bloomberg News announced:  "Bogart Is Still Biggest Star 54 Years After Death."

Bogart LLC was represented in the lawsuit by Charles J. Harder of Wolf Rifkin in Los Angeles, California.

The defendants, Plummers, Inc., Scandinavian Designs, Inc. and Dania, Inc., were represented by Randy McElvain of Weston & McElvain in Los Angeles, California.

About the Firm

Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin LLP is a full service litigation and corporate transactional law firm based in Los Angeles. The firm’s Entertainment/IP Litigation Department represents celebrities, celebrity estates, independent film and television producers, and intellectual property rights holders, in entertainment and IP litigation matters.

Contact:  Charles J. Harder  310.478.4100 Ext. 255  [email protected]

SOURCE Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin LLP