Tiger Woods Wins Important Victory Against Christensen Shipyard, Ltd.

    MIAMI and WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -. A federal court in Miami
 has ruled that golfer Tiger Woods' lawsuit against Christensen Shipyards, Ltd.
 will proceed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
 and that an order enjoining Christensen from the unauthorized use of Woods'
 name or photographs of his boat will remain in place.
     Mr. Woods filed his rights-of-publicity suit against Christensen last
 October in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.  The
 suit alleges that the luxury yacht manufacturer, based in Vancouver,
 improperly used Mr. Woods' name, his wife's name, and photographs of a yacht
 built for Woods in connection with the advertising and marketing of
 Christensen's products. Mr. Woods also seeks injunctive relief from
 Christensen.
     After a November 8, 2004 hearing, Chief Judge Howard J. Zloch entered a
 consent preliminary injunction prohibiting Christensen from improperly using
 Woods' name and photographs of the yacht to promote and advertise the company.
     On December 8, 2004, Christensen filed a motion asking the Court to
 dissolve the preliminary injunction and dismiss the case under a "forum
 selection clause" in the yacht contract opting for Washington State Court to
 resolve certain disputes.  Ms. Woods is not a party to the yacht contract and
 is not bound by the "forum selection clause."
     On September 23, 2005, after extensive briefing on the issues, Judge Zloch
 denied Christensen's request and held that "the result of enforcement of the
 forum selection clause would be parallel proceedings in different forums on
 the same set of facts and legal issues ... The Court finds that enforcement
 ... would lead to ... unreasonable and, arguably, unjust results ..."  In
 other words, enforcement of the clause would result in the unreasonable
 situation of requiring Woods to sue in Washington while his wife's case would
 proceed in Florida.
 
     The Woods' attorney, J. Douglas Baldridge of Washington, D.C.-based
 Venable LLP, stated: "We firmly believe that the evidence will show
 Christensen violated and exploited the Woods' valuable rights for the
 company's own commercial gain. We are pleased with today's well-reasoned
 ruling and look forward to presenting the merits of this case in Florida where
 the Woods reside."
     The case will remain in Florida and the preliminary injunction against
 Christensen remains in tact.
     Please let us know if you would like a copy of Judge Zloch's latest ruling
 or would like to speak with Mr. Baldridge.
 
     As one of The American Lawyer's top 100 law firms, Venable LLP has lawyers
 practicing in all areas of corporate and business law, complex litigation,
 intellectual property and government affairs. Venable serves corporate,
 institutional, governmental, nonprofit and individual clients throughout the
 U.S. and around the world from its base of operations in and around
 Washington, D.C.  For more, visit www.venable.com.
 
      Contact:  Allan Ripp      212-721-7468  arippnyc@aol.com
                Sarah Gudsnuk   202-344-8523  sgudsnuk@venable.com
 
 

SOURCE  Venable LLP