Unseating the Brando?

Thu., Mar. 22, 2007 5:39 PM PDT by Joal Ryan

Don't get so comfy in your Brando.

The estate of Marlon Brando filed suit Thursday in Los Angeles against the makers of a home-theater recliner known as the Brando.

The Brando camp claims the leather chair is an unauthorized, unlicensed attempt to cash in on the name of the late Oscar-winning star of The Godfather and On the Waterfront.

The complaint accuses Canada's Palliser Furniture Ltd., among others, of misappropriating of a dead celebrity's name. It seeks unspecified damages and a preliminary injunction.

An attempt to reach a Palliser spokesperson for comment Thursday afternoon was unsuccessful; a recorded message said the company's business day was done.

Per its Website, Palliser specializes in leather sofas, sectionals, chairs and home-theater accoutrements with names such as Melrose, Blake and Hemingway. The Brando was not featured on the site Thursday.

At the online home of Discount Leather Chairs, the Brando is hailed for providing "unparalleled comfort, sophisticated design and all the features you need to help create the ultimate home theater." Cup holders are standard; so-called "Bass Shakers," aka built-in woofer speakers, are optional.

According to Miko Brando, a son of the Hollywood legend, his father wasn't much for bells and whistles, or maybe even cup holders.

"He never owned home-theater furniture," Miko Brando told E! Online Thursday. "He just had a sofa and a TV."

Marlon Brando died in 2004 at the age of 80.

According to the lawsuit, first reported on by the Los Angeles Times, Palliser unveiled its Brando model "mere weeks" after the star's death.

In a January 2007 letter to Brando estate representatives, the lawsuit says, Palliser asserted its Brando had nothing to do with their Brando.

"Brando is a tourist cent[er] of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea and hence its inspiration," the company said, per the lawsuit. "Palliser is certainly not associating its use of the name with the Hollywood Brando name."

When asked for his reaction to that assertion, Miko Brando responded with a laugh.

"Yeah, well, figure it out," the younger Brando finally said.

In true Godfather fashion, Miko Brando said he has nothing personal against the Brando recliner, as a recliner, that is. He's never even sat in one.

Like father, like son, apparently, Miko Brando isn't big on home-theater furniture of any brand.

Said Miko Brando: "I don't need one."