CINCINNATI — Larry Flynt’s brother, Jimmy Flynt, is no longer allowed to use the Hustler name.
A federal judge permanently barred Jimmy Flynt from using the Hustler name and rejected Jimmy Flynt’s claims that he had permission to open an unlicensed Hustler retail store.
The ruling stems from several ongoing lawsuits between the brothers, one of which includes a trademark dispute over the rights to use the Hustler name.
Jimmy Flynt had opened several businesses using the Hustler name, including Hustler News and Gifts in 1997, Hustler Cincinnati in 2000. Jimmy Flynt didn’t pay for the privilege of using the Hustler name in the new Cincinnati store.
A year later, he opened Hustler Hollywood in Ohio. At that time, Larry Flynt and Jimmy Flynt entered into a written licensing agreement. Hustler Cincinnati entered into a similar agreement with Larry Flynt, but a written agreement was never signed.
Larry Flynt sued Jimmy Flynt to stop him from using the Hustler name in the Cincinnati store, while Larry Flynt claimed that the business didn’t operate under a signed license agreement.
But U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman rejected Jimmy Flyn’t claims.
"There is no dispute that, even if Jimmy and his accountant, Allie Jackson, were unaware of this unsigned document, both men were aware that the relationship between LFP and Hustler Cincinnati had changed," Bertelsman wrote.
"Larry and Jimmy indisputably entered into an implied licensing arrangement by their conduct," he added. "Jimmy may have initially used the 'Hustler' mark for HNG and Hustler Cincinnati with Larry's permission and for free.
"But, whatever their original arrangement, it changed by mutual consent and without protest when Jimmy acquiesced with Larry's wishes, and restructured the relationship between Hustler Cincinnati and LFP. Thereafter, Hustler Cincinnati paid licensing fees for years to LFP, uninterrupted and without protest, until family dynamics soured and Jimmy refused to pay."
