Mickey Mouse sues Donald Duck. Yes, really

By Eriq Gardner

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it still may not be a duck.

That's the only conclusion we can draw from seeing that Mickey Mouse has filed a trademark infringement claim against Donald Duck yesterday in Florida Southern District Court. 

Yes, an actual lawsuit was filed by an apparently clever and totally anonymous prankster. 

Mickey Mouse is being represented by Juan Abagado. ("Abagado" means "lawyer" in Spanish.) Donald Duck is being represented by Pluto. And the deputy clerk in the case is Goofy, who has issued the summons.

(Hat tip to Legal Pad.)

Comments

[Legal Aid]

Is this case even serious? Parties to a case should have legal personalities. Clearly, a duck lacks legal personality. I don't know why it was even accepted.

[David]

Well, if it WALKS like a DUCK, and TALKS like a DUCK, then.......... ??? What would YOU conclude? Sounds like typical lawyer BS!

[selfdeprecate]

HA! I wish I could of done something that ballsy. http://selfdeprecate.com

[James]

Wow. What a waste of a couple of hundred dollars in filing fees for something not even particularly funny.

[DW]

FYI, this proves a small point. All individuals in this case are registered voters in Broward County, FL.

Remember that county?

[picky]

it's spelled Abogado, not Abagado. you could even check the lawsuit you attached. i thought journalism included spelling and proofreading? not to mention reporting actual news.

[Juan]

Did he Died?

[Bugstomper]

The similar Mouse v Duck claim filed last June

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-dcdce/case_no-1:2010cv02021/case_id-137243/

has a different detail that may shed some light on the matter. Instead of the Presiding Judge being listed as Judge Unassigned, the name is TestJudge.

It looks more like a test of the filing system with a dummy document rather than a prank.

[Sam]

can you say, waste of time and taxpayers money?!