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OFF BEAT: Disney trying to give Deadmau5 logo a techno beatdown

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OFF BEAT: Disney trying to give Deadmau5 logo a techno beatdown

The Walt Disney Co. last week said it is looking into a trademark registration filed by one Joel Zimmerman, known to Electronic Dance Music faithful as Deadmau5, which is actually pronounced “dead mouse.”

Zimmerman’s Ronica Holdings Ltd. last year made a trademark application for a logo with round black ears on a round head with oblong white eyes and a smiling white mouth. Sound familiar?

The trademarked logo would cover items including electrical and scientific apparatus, vehicles (specifically BMX bikes), paper goods, leather goods, toys and sporting goods, staple foods (like coffee), light beverages and entertainment services; items, it could be argued, commonly found in the Disney universe.

Given that Deadmau5 made his mark in the throbbing, neon-lit netherworld of EDM, raves and assorted reveling, is it really reasonable that Disney might argue that the logo is misleading and could confuse consumers about the source of goods and services?

Seen side-by-side, some might say the graphics bear a striking resemblance to each other, but does anyone really see “Mickey Mouse Club” being driven at 120 beats-per-minute backed by strobe lights in a warehouse somewhere down by the docks?

Despite Disney’s roots in the kinder, more-melody-driven decades of mid-20th century Americana, the company said it has requested and been granted 90 days to investigate the Deadmau5 claim and file a notice of opposition.

Given the company’s notorious reputation about guarding its intellectual property, Deadmau5 might find his trademark application DOA.