In 1974, a Portuguese(!) cowboy from Rhode Island(!)
named Victor De Costa won a long-pursued federal court judgment against CBS for
trademark infringement, successfully litigating his assertion that he had created
the Paladin character and the ideas used in the show-- which were somehow stolen
by HGWT's producers. (Rather dubious since HGWT's original concept was that of
a modern day globe-trotting detective.) He claimed he began billing himself as
Paladin after an Italian man stood up at a horse show and called him a "paladino."
He claimed he'd adopted the phrase "Have Gun, Will Travel" after someone shouted
it at him while he was on a bucking bronco. At his appearances he always dressed
in black, he handed out hundreds of HGWT business cards, and he even carried a
concealed derringer. The physical resemblance between Mr. De Costa and Richard
Boone was nothing less than striking. Although monetary damages were not immediately
awarded, De Costa stood to gain a tidy sum, as court testimony indicated that
HGWT had made more than $14 million for CBS (a titanic amount in the
1950's-60's), plus millions more in product licensing.
Courtesy of
Marty Rickler
A year later, a court of appeals overturned the lower court, ruling that the
plaintiff had failed to prove that the public had been deceived -- i.e., there
had been no likelihood of confusion in the minds of the public -- a necessary
requirement for a suit over trademark infringement. However, De Costa kept pursuing
the case, and in 1991 a settlement was reached -- over 30 years after the lawsuit
was originally filed -- and he received $3 million.
