[disneyaholic]

David Teather in New York
Friday June 21, 2002
The Guardian

The clean living media group Walt Disney has fallen foul of Zippo Manufacturing, maker of the iconic cigarette lighters.

The lighter company has filed a lawsuit against Disney and its
ABC television network, claiming that one of its characters, a dinosaur named Zippo, is cashing in on its 70-year-old brand name.

Gregory Booth, Zippo president, said the name had been a trademark since 1932.

Mr Booth said he hoped to reach an amicable settlement with the media firms. Disney and ABC had no comment but are understood to have been indemnified against legal action by Hallmark.

The cartoon version of Zippo is one of the main characters in a mini-series that aired on ABC earlier this year. The series, based on books by James Gurney, presents a world where people and dinosaurs live together on a lost continent.

The Zippo lighter brand has been stretched to other products and now appears on items including pocket knives, golf accessories and clothing.