A LEGAL spat appears to be shaping up between tycoon Dickson Poon and movie star Chow Yun-fatt over a contract they sealed six years ago.
Matinee idol Chow was signed on by the Dickson Concepts boss to appear in a series of TV commercials for Guy Laroche watches, the contract stipulating that the company had exclusive rights to the actor's services to advertise this particular brand of timepieces for a fixed period of time.
The commercials - which also featured Dickson's then wife, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh - were aired in 1987, and the exclusivity clause under which Chow was tied to Dickson lapsed three years later, leaving him free to advertise any other brand of watch should he so desire.
So, three months ago, Chow went to China and filmed a commercial for the High Street watch company City Chain, plugging its Solvil et Titus brand, which has featured in both print and TV media in the past few weeks.
Lo and behold, in what seems like a clever marketing ploy, Dickson Concepts has resurrected the 1987 commercials, much to Chow's dismay.
He said: ''The films and photographs which I made many years ago being published and broadcast in the media at the same time is misleading and causing confusion with the Solvil et Titus commercial.