"I never trust a man that doesn't drink," John Wayne famously said, and his heirs are taking this mistrust to the bank with their signature Duke line of various boozes. Unfortunately, in the process they're also drawing ire from a world-class university with the same name, and losing to them in court.

John Wayne Enterprises, which makes, among other things, Duke bourbon, sued Duke University over the school's claim that widespread use of the name as a purveyor of hooch would dilute their reputation and confuse the brand. A California judge dismissed the case yesterday, citing a lack of jurisdiction.

This is just the latest in a long string of brawling between the two over the Duke name, which the university has been objecting to since 2005. John Wayne, who was born Marion Robert Morrison, adopted the name of his dog, "Duke," as a nickname, preferring it to Marion.

It does seem peculiar that anyone would get the two entities confused. One is banking on the name and image of a tough guy Hollywood icon with a not-so-secret life as an alcoholic philanderer and a hell of a quick draw, the other is a Methodist-and-Quaker-founded university with a not-so-secret life as a party school and one hell of a basketball team. But, as Wayne once said, "never apologize and never explain, it's a sign of weakness."