Celebrity News

What’s in a name? Big Borghese fight

A fierce legal battle over the rights to the historic Borghese family name between the cosmetics company run by GOP bundler Georgette Mosbacher and Prince Lorenzo Borghese is getting closer to heading to trial.

Borghese Inc., which boasts the flame-haired Mosbacher as its CEO, filed a lawsuit in 2010 to block members of the Borghese family and other companies from using its name and history to market products, including Prince Lorenzo’s Royal Treatment Pet line.

Borghese cosmetics was founded by Lorenzo’s grandmother Princess Marcella in 1956 through a partnership with Revlon founder Charles Revson. Revlon later bought out the Borghese brand name, and in 2000 sold it to its current owner, a Saudi royal family member who then hired Mosbacher as CEO of Borghese cosmetics.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo — best known as a former “Bachelor” star on ABC — and his family have sold products on HSN and various Web sites using references to their family’s history in their marketing. Lorenzo launched his own brand of pet products on HSN in 2002, and in 2008, Lorenzo and his family applied for a trademark for a new line, called Prince Lorenzo Borghese’s La Dolce Vita, which is still pending.

As a result, the Borghese company in 2010 filed a complaint against Lorenzo, several members of his family and HSN, claiming the “defendant’s unauthorized use of the Borghese brand . . . is likely to cause confusion or mistake.”

Members of the Borghese family filed counterclaims against Borghese Inc., but in January, a judge dismissed them. The case has an April 15 deadline for pretrial filings, after which a trial date is expected to be determined.

Prince Lorenzo told us in a statement, “I have never sold my family history and I never will. It’s not for sale. I will continue to fight for my rights until the day I die.”