Reggae legend's heirs sue MD company for selling unlicensed

In an effort to save their $10 million-a-year enterprise, the heirs of reggae performer and songwriter Bob Marley are suing for trademark infringement a Prince George's County company that distributes apparel bearing the Marley impression, allegedly without permission, according to a suit filed in U.S. District Court.

The four-count lawsuit -- the latest of several suits filed during the past two years -- asks the court to enjoin Intertrade Corp.com, of Cheverly, and its proprietor, Wen Lin Deng, from further distribution of the products and award unspecified damages, according to the suit filed by Greenbelt attorney Bruce L. Marcus.

Fifty-Six Hope Road Music Ltd., of Cable Beach, Nassau, a firm owned, operated and controlled by Marley's 12 children, is the owner and exclusive licensor of certain rights to the picture, name, photograph, likeness, image, signature and other indicia of the late Robert Nesta Marley, also known as Bob Marley, according to the suit.

For the past 13 years, Hope Road has distributed the Marley identity on T-shirts, thermal shirts, jackets, hats, caps, sweatshirts and other general merchandise.

Marley died May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. Still, his albums, produced posthumously, have maintained their top positions on Reggae charts, selling more than 1.4 million in all.

In the 12 months ending June 2002, the estate made $10 million, according to Forbes Magazine's August article on "Top-Earning Dead Celebrities." The article places Marley 8th behind rock and roll star Elvis Presley, Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, Beatle John Lennon, NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt, author Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, Beatle George Harrison and "Lord of the Rings" trilogy author, J.R.R. Tokien.

As Marley's popularity continued, Hope Road applied for and received, patent No. 2,349,.361 for the use of Bob Marley identifications, effective for 10 years from May 16, 2000.

In the meantime, Hope Road entered into a licensing agreement with Zion Rootswear LLC, of Atlantic Beach, Fla. This agreement grants Zion the worldwide exclusive right to use the Marley Rights on various merchandise.

Since the patent was granted, Hope Road has filed numerous cease and desist lawsuits against companies selling Marley products without licenses. The firm also has been awarded the right to seize unlicensed property.

Intertrade Corp.com was one of the latest companies allegedly identified as selling Marley merchandise, "without a license" which leads to "a likelihood of confusion as to the origin and constitute[s] an infringement of the Plaintiff's rights," the suit said.

According to Intertrade's Web site, it offers a variety of Marley T-shirts including Marley with long hair and lion face and "Songs of Freedom."

A spokesman for Intertrade, when reached by telephone yesterday and asked if he sells Bob Marley T-shirts, said, "No, I don't sell. I don't have. I don't know why you're calling me."

Hope Road's attorney Marcus said his client already has seized the knock-off merchandise from Intertrade. "It was not a small amount," he said, but could not give the value of the goods.

"The main thing was to have him cease and desist," Marcus said. "We'll figure out the magnitude down the road."

Hope Road offered two invoices dated Aug. 2, 2002, and April 1, 2003, in which purchases of Marley merchandise were made from Intertrade.

Wendy Keel, the proprietor of T-Shirt Joint in Wheaton, offered an affidavit in which she related her visit to Intertrade's retail store in Cheverly where she purchased Marley T-shirts. She turned over the goods to Hope Road after receiving a cease and desist notice.

Michael Conley, a member-manager of Zion Rootswear, said, in an affidavit, that in addition to T-Shirt Joint, a Zion agent went to Smoke 911 in Atlanta, to check on the Marley merchandise for sale. "Knowing that they were not one of my accounts, I suspected the products that they were selling were counterfeit," he said.

The items also were purchased from Intertrade, according to former Smoke 911 proprietor Gary Sanhi.

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