The settlement provided DMC to use the name DeLorean without being further challenged by the estate, but the settlement did not transfer any contractual rights to DMC Texas, and did not even bring up the 1989 agreement John DeLorean made with Universal.
The estate of famed automaker John DeLorean has filed a lawsuit against DMC Texas, a company that produces custom, made-to-order replicas of the iconic DeLorean automobile, over payments from Universal Pictures for the iconic 1985 classic Back to The Future.
Sally DeLorean, John DeLorean’s widow, filed a lawsuit in New Jersey federal court, stating that payments made by Universal Pictures, under a 1989 deal John DeLorean struck with the studio, were supposed to go to the estate, and not to DMC Texas, which has no connection to John DeLorean and his original company, the DeLorean Motor Company.
While DMC Texas has not publicly responded to the lawsuit, the complaint alleges that DMC Texas threatened to sue the DeLorean estate for tortious interference unless their request to Universal for payment was retraced.