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Clint Eastwood Sues Furniture Company for Using His Name

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on April 10, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

The new Clint Eastwood lawsuit is a strange one. The surly actor slash director slash producer is suing Evofurniture and website Inmod.com, accusing the two companies of inappropriately using his "name, identity and persona for the purpose of attracting attention to" their furniture.

Yes. Furniture.

Up until well, today, Inmod.com was selling Evofurniture's "Clint" entertainment centers and "Eastwood" chairs and ottomans. The suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages to compensate Eastwood for the egregious use of his name.

A post like this would ordinarily be riddled with lame puns, but it seems the copywriters over at Evofurniture have already made adequate use of the actor's resume. Consider this advertisement, which was included in Clint Eastwood's lawsuit:

When you're invited into a person's home, you get to see the good, the bad and the ugly. When visitors come to your home, the Clint 47" Entertainment Center makes your family room alone look like you live in a perfect world of a million dollar baby.

After reading this little ditty -- and a few others included in the suit -- there's little doubt that Evofurniture and Inmod.com at least somewhat intended for consumers to connect the Clint entertainment center and Eastwood chair with the celebrity.

But did they break the law in doing so?

Quite possibly yes. If they had only named the furniture after him, Clint Eastwood's lawsuit would probably fail. But the advertising copy suggests that he was in on the joke and perhaps even endorsed the products. Since he wasn't, there's a pretty decent argument that the companies misappropriated his name and likeness.

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