Marlon Brando estate sues over sale of chair

updated 6:23 p.m. ET March 23, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Representatives of Marlon Brando's estate are suing two furniture companies and a retailer over the sale of a home theater chair called "The Brando."

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims misappropriation of the name of a deceased celebrity. The actor died in July 2004 and permission wasn't obtained to use his name, the estate claims.

The estate's representatives are asking for unspecified damages and a court order to halt the sale of any more goods using the Brando name.

The chairs are being sold by Southern California-based City Leather Inc., Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Palliser Furniture Ltd. and North Carolina-based Palliser Furniture Corp.

Jason Brainard, vice president of City Leather, said officials at his stores were told to stop using the Brando name when selling the chair. No decision has been made yet on what to rename the chair, he said.

MORE FROM U.S. BUSINESS

U.S. business Section Front

L.A. leads the list of most congested cities   Goldman Sachs’ winning formula works again Madoff admitted to North Carolina prison   Goldman posts bigger-than-expected profit Exxon makes first big biofuel investment NYT: Meth lab homes harm new owners SEC says it will ‘adapt its ways’ post-Madoff Trusting the brand to the lowly ‘twintern’ U.S. Bancorp also won’t honor California IOUs Publisher exploring options for BusinessWeek U.S. business Section Front   Add U.S. business headlines to your news reader: