Deadmau5 is filing a legal suit against a Florida online store owner for allegedly appropriating the name of his cat.
Meowingtons was adopted by the DJ, real name Joel Zimmerman, in 2010, and has become something of a celebrity in his own right. The feline has inspired the world’s first line of cat-specific headphones, had a compilation and tour named after him, and featured on Deadmau5 merchandise and album art.
Deadmau5 attempted to trademark the name ‘Meowingtons’ last year and was rejected, due to it already being used by meowingtons.com, an online cat-themed gift and apparel store based in Florida.
Arguing that the store is infringing his Meowingtons mark, due to it being set up in 2014, Deadmau5’s attorney claims: “Unauthorised use of the MEOWINGTONS mark has already caused actual confusion in the marketplace, chilling [Deadmau5]’s licensing program and depriving [Deadmau5] of the ability to control the use of its valuable intellectual property.”
