Bad Blood Spills in Vampire Lawsuit

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One of the more memorable lines delivered by the title character in a number of the "Dracula" movies is "I never drink . . . wine." And he still doesn't -- not one brand, at least. Reuters reports of bad blood that exists between a European distributor of a sparkling wine called "Dracula" and Ottomar Rodolphe Vlad Dracul Prince Kretzulesco, a Germany-based count who claims to hang from a branch of the family tree belonging to the original Vlad the Impaler, the 15th century Transylvanian prince whose rule inspired novelist Bram Stoker's famous Gothic novel and the many movies that followed. On Tuesday, Kretzulesco, an antique dealer, lost a case that he brought in a Munich court against the "Dracula" distributor (which sells the product over the Internet). The judge in the case ruled that the count could not count on claiming the sole rights to the name of the world-renowned vampire. The company had successfully argued that it had distribution rights to market a product called "Dracula," and noted that its ads referred to the famous bloodthirsty Count Dracula, not to Ottomar Rodolphe. Drink up.