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10 December 2019CopyrightSaman Javed

Disney targets online store over mouse ears silhouette

Disney has sued a US-based online retailer for selling merchandise which allegedly infringes several of the Mickey Mouse creator’s trademarks and copyrights.

In its complaint, filed yesterday at the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Disney said Mouseprint Media is manufacturing and selling unauthorised goods through a number of online websites, online platforms and social media websites.

These goods are marketed and sold using a number of Disney’s copyrights, as well as designs which infringe Disney’s trademarks.

One such design, is for Mouseprint’s ‘DisGear’ device, which mimics Disney’s famous Mickey Mouse silhouette trademarks, the filing said.

“Mouseprint uses the ‘DisGear’ device as its main source identifying mark on its infringing goods and throughout its online business,” it added.

According to the US Trademark Electronic Search System, in February 2019 Mouseprint filed a trademark application for its ‘DisGear’ device.

Disney claimed it first contacted Mouseprint on March 20, asking the company to stop infringing its IP.

After Mouseprint did not stop, Disney wrote to the company again on October 7.

“Disney demanded Mouseprint stop infringing and withdraw its trademark application,” the filing said.

Subsequently, Mouseprint’s trademark application was abandoned on November 15 after the US Patent and Trademark Office refused registration because it was too similar to one of Disney’s existing trademarks.

Disney also submitted evidence of a number of unauthorised merchandise allegedly sold by Mouseprint.

This includes clothing using Disney’s trademarks, as well as copyright-protected designs from Disney films such as “Star Wars”, “Finding Nemo” and “Peter Pan”.

Disney said Mouseprint’s use of its trademarks is likely to cause confusion, and lead the public to believe Mouseprint is affiliated with Disney.

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More on this story

Copyright
18 October 2019   A Canadian court has cleared the way for a Toronto former film student to sue Pixar and Walt Disney for copyright infringement over the 2015 animated film “Inside Out”.
Trademarks
12 December 2019   A Nevada-based retailer is taking on Disney in a trademark infringement suit over ‘Frozen 2’ merchandise.