Clint Eastwood Ends Legal War Over a Chair (Exclusive)

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Clint Eastwood's battle with a chair at the Republican National Convention was headline-making political news. But months before the Oscar-winning filmmaker and actor hit the stage, he began battling another chair that had nothing to do with an invisible Barack Obama.

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In a lawsuit filed in April, Eastwood accused furniture maker Evofurniture of selling ottomans and chairs as "Clint" and "Eastwood" and trading on the goodwill associated with his name and his movies.

But there will be no reprising of any "Eastwooding" in a courtroom. On Monday, Eastwood and Evofurniture figured out a way to resolve their differences.

The settlement ends a dispute in which Eastwood accused the company of "continuing to use Mr. Eastwood's name, identity and persona for the purpose of attracting attention to the infringing products."

At the RNC, Eastwood demanded to know why Invisible Obama promised to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and then didn't live up to his word.

Here, in this lawsuit, Eastwood just wanted to know why any chairmaker thought it could get away with such marketing statements as, "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."

Eastwood sought a permanent injunction against the chair that bore his famous name, plus damages for misappropriation of right of publicity.

Unlike the estate of Humphrey Bogart, which sued over a sofa and got a fancy answer how it was possible to name a couch "Bogart" without having the actor in mind, Eastwood never got much of defensive response from Evofurniture.

Nevertheless, after the lawsuit was removed from state to federal court in May, Eastwood asked for a jury trial.

Sadly, that won't happen.

On Monday, after a mediation session, the parties informed a California judge that they had reached an agreement on a global settlement to end all claims. Financial details of the arrangement aren't public. The parties say they expect to file a stipulation and a proposed order by Nov. 12. Eastwood's lawyer wasn't immediately available for comment.

Thus ends the battle of Clint Eastwood vs. the chair.

E-mail: eriq.gardner@thr.com; Twitter: @eriqgardner