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According to the complaint filed this month in federal court
in Chicago, Samsung placed the October ad for ultra
high-definition televisions after breaking off negotiations in
2013 to use Pelé's identity to promote its products.
Pelé, 75, whose given name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is
widely regarded as the greatest soccer player ever and among the
world's most famous athletes.
Although the ad does not mention Pelé, it includes a
portrait-sized image of a man who "very closely resembles" him,
and a small photo of a soccer player making a "modified bicycle
or scissors-kick, perfected and famously used by Pelé," the
complaint said.
Pelé relies on endorsements for much of his income, and the ad
will hurt the value of his endorsement rights and confuse
consumers into believing he endorses Samsung products, the
complaint added.
"The goal is to obtain fair compensation for the unauthorized
use of Pele's identity, and to prevent future unauthorized
uses," Pelé's lawyer, Frederick Sperling, said in a phone
interview.
Samsung spokeswoman Danielle Meister Cohen declined to comment.
The lawsuit was filed by Pele IP Ownership LLC, which owns
Pelé's trademark and publicity rights. It is dated March 16.
Sperling has also represented former Chicago Bulls star Michael
Jordan, and helped him win a $8.9 million jury verdict last
August against the former Dominick's Finer Foods over the
grocer's unauthorized use of the basketball Hall of Famer's
identity in an ad in Sports Illustrated.
Jordan later settled for an undisclosed amount.
The case is Pele IP Ownership LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No.
16-03354.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Jonathan
Oatis and Peter Cooney)
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