Disney sues Hong Kong company it says is selling illegal Mickey Mouse
jewelry
[July 17, 2025]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday sued a Hong Kong
jewelry company it accuses of selling illegal Mickey Mouse jewelry.
The international media and entertainment conglomerate filed a lawsuit
in federal court in Los Angeles against the Red Earth Group, which sells
jewelry online under the name Satéur.
Disney says the marketing and branding of the rings, necklaces and
earrings in Satéur's “Mickey 1928 Collection” violate its trademark
rights and that the Hong Kong company is deliberately trying to fool
customers into thinking the pieces are official Disney merchandise.
Satéur, the suit 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 seeking comment from representatives of the Red Earth Group
was not immediately answered.
The lawsuit is indicative of Disney's dogged efforts to protect its
intellectual property from unauthorized appropriation. Although the
earliest version of Mickey Mouse entered the public domain last year
after Disney's copyright expired, the company still holds trademark
rights to the character.
Lawyers for Disney argue in the suit that Red Earth’s online marketing
efforts “extensively trade on the Mickey Mouse trademarks and the Disney
brand” with language that includes describing the jewelry as great for
“Disney enthusiasts.”
Such tactics indicate Red 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.”
[to top of second column]
|
 The earliest depiction of Mickey
Mouse, who first appeared publicly in the film short “Steamboat
Willie” in 1928, are now in the U.S. public domain. The widely
publicized moment was considered a landmark in iconography going
public.
The lawsuit alleges that Red Earth and Satéur are
trying to use that status as a “ruse” to suggest the jewelry is
legal, by dubbing it the “Mickey 1928 Collection” and saying it is
being sold in tribute to the mouse's first appearance.
The centerpiece of the collection, the suit says, is a piece of
jewelry marketed as the "Satéur Mickey 1928 Classique Ring,” which
has a Steamboat Willie charm sitting on the band holding a synthetic
stone.
But there is an essential difference between copyright — which
protects works of art — and trademark — which protects a company's
brand.
Even if a character is in the public domain, it cannot be used on
merchandise in a way that suggests it is from the company with the
trademark, as Disney alleges Red 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 said in a statement Wednesday.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction against Red Earth selling the
jewelry or trading on Disney's trademark in any other way, along
with monetary damages to be determined later.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
