A pair of heavyweight mice are getting ready for a legal battle with plenty of cheese at stake.
TMZ is reporting that Disney is taking legal action against Deadmau5, trying to prevent the EDM producer from trademarking his recognizable headgear on grounds that it’s too similar to their own mouse’s legendary look.
Disney says the gear (and the producer’s recognizable logo) will cause confusion between Deadmau5 and Mickey Mouse, while the man under the mask, Joel Zimmerman, says he’s been wearing it for a decade without issue and should be able to claim it.
In fact, Zimmerman’s message is simple: “Lawyer up, Mickey.”
landed home to some interesting news: looks like Disney officially just filed in opposition of my trademark… lawyer up mickey.
— deadmau5 (@deadmau5) September 3, 2014
Here’s some background from TMZ:
In documents filed Tuesday … Disney claims Deadmau5’s logo is too similar to their famous Mickey ears, and they’re trying to block him from getting a trademark in the U.S.
Of course, Deadmau5 has been wearing his mouse head costume for 10 years now — and his attorney Dina LaPolt tells TMZ he already has a trademark for it in 30 other countries … including Japan, Germany, Italy and the U.K. Deadmau5 applied through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last year.
In the docs, Disney states its ears have been a thing for more than 60 years, and says granting Deadmau5 the trademark would damage its business in the U.S. and around the world.
Heard that?
TMZ says it was told by Zimmerman that he would “won’t be bullied,” and will “fight to protect” his rights to his property. The whole thing could end up in court.
Meanwhile, Ferrari has sent Zimmerman a cease and desist over Nyan Cat customizations the producer had made to his 458 Spider. Zimmerman has since removed the “wrap” and restored the Italian car makers logos.
I wonder if the jackass lawyer at @FerrariUSA who sent us a "cease and desist" letter over the purrari is un-butthurt now that I unwrapped.
— deadmau5 (@deadmau5) August 27, 2014