RIN TIN TIN WAR!

Rinty_stry

The most famous dog name in movie history RIN TIN TIN is at the center of a vicious battle.

 A judge will now decide who owns the Rin Tin Tin trademarks after attorneys battled for a dog breeder and a dog food company on one side, and a former Hollywood stuntman on the other.

Retired stuntman Max Kleven and Rin Inc. claimed to hold exclusive intellectual property rights for Rin Tin Tin and associated film and television rights in a lawsuit filed in April 2013, Courthouse News reported.

Dog breeder Daphne Hereford, Texas-based Rin Tin Tin Inc., and pet supply company Belleair Trading International were accused of "hijacking" the Rin Tin Tin mark after they allegedly made unlawful trademark registrations to sell clothing, dog accessories, children's books and other products.

The $5 million lawsuit is based on breeding from a German shepherd dog that "may have been a descendant of the dog Rin Tin Tin."

  The original Rin Tin Tin who starred in the silent movies died in 1932 and was replaced by two successor dogs, Rin Tin Tin Jr. and Rin Tin Tin III.

 Hereford claims she breeds dogs descended from the canine film dynasty who appeared in more than 27 movies . She owns a Rin Tin Tin museum with 800 pieces of memorabilia in Crockett, Texas.

In his lawsuit, retired stuntman Kleven said he owned the rights to the "fictional" Rin Tin Tin created by the German Shepherd's original owner, Lt. Lee Duncan, who found the dog during World War One in France

After the war, Duncan took the dog to the United States and wrote a screenplay "Where North Begins" that starred Rin Tin Tin. The film was a massive hit and reportedly helped save Warner Bros. from bankruptcy.

Duncan later paired up with producer TV Herbert Leonard to produce the hit 1950s television show "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin."

 According to legal docs, the rights passed to Kleven, a stuntman who had appeared in the show.

U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte is due to render a decision shortly.

Meanwhile, Rinty’s rival – the  “Lassie” franchise – just keeps nosing along.