The Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday sued a Hong Kong jewellery firm it accuses of promoting unlawful Mickey Mouse jewellery.
The worldwide media and leisure conglomerate filed a lawsuit in federal court docket in Los Angeles in opposition to the Pink Earth Group, which sells jewellery on-line underneath the identify Satéur.
Disney says the advertising and branding of the rings, necklaces and earrings in Satéur’s “Mickey 1928 Collection” violate its trademark rights and that the Hong Kong firm is intentionally making an attempt to idiot clients into considering the items are official Disney merchandise.
Satéur, the go well with alleges, “intends to present Mickey Mouse as its own brand identifier for its jewelry merchandise and “seeks to trade on the recognizability of the Mickey Mouse trademarks and consumers’ affinity for Disney and its iconic ambassador Mickey Mouse.”
A message searching for remark from representatives of the Pink Earth Group was not instantly answered.
The lawsuit is indicative of Disney’s dogged efforts to guard its mental property from unauthorized appropriation. Though the earliest model of Mickey Mouse entered the general public area final 12 months after Disney’s copyright expired, the corporate nonetheless holds trademark rights to the character.
Legal professionals for Disney argue within the go well with that Pink Earth’s on-line advertising efforts “extensively trade on the Mickey Mouse trademarks and the Disney brand” with language that features describing the jewellery as nice for “Disney enthusiasts.”
Such ways point out Pink Earth was “intentionally trying to confuse consumers,” the lawsuit says. The impression created, it says, “suggests, at a minimum, a partnership or collaboration with Disney.”
The earliest depiction of Mickey Mouse, who first appeared publicly within the movie brief “Steamboat Willie” in 1928, at the moment are within the U.S. public area. The extensively publicized second was thought of a landmark in iconography going public.
The lawsuit alleges that Pink Earth and Satéur are attempting to make use of that standing as a “ruse” to counsel the jewellery is authorized, by dubbing it the “Mickey 1928 Collection” and saying it’s being offered in tribute to the mouse’s first look.
The centerpiece of the gathering, the go well with says, is a chunk of bijou marketed because the “Satéur Mickey 1928 Classique Ring,” which has a Steamboat Willie attraction sitting on the band holding an artificial stone.
However there may be an important distinction between copyright — which protects artworks — and trademark — which protects an organization’s model.
Even when a personality is within the public area, it can’t be used on merchandise in a approach that implies it’s from the corporate with the trademark, as Disney alleges Pink Earth is doing.
“Disney remains committed to guarding against unlawful trademark infringement and protecting consumers from confusion caused by unauthorized uses of Mickey Mouse and our other iconic characters,” Disney stated in an announcement Wednesday.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction in opposition to Pink Earth promoting the jewellery or buying and selling on Disney’s trademark in another approach, together with financial damages to be decided later.
