Deadmau5 has a cat called Prof. Meowingtons, PhD, so named because he meows a lot, as in “meowing tons.” Prof. Meowingtons has his own Twitter account, which Deadmau5 claims is the only verified Twitter account belonging to an animal (although this is untrue, because Grumpy Cat is verified too). The Professor also has an Instagram, and he’s a feline entrepreneur who’s appeared on Deadmau5 merch and once marketed a pair of $1,000 miniature headphones for cats.
But when Deadmau5 (a.k.a. Joel Zimmerman) sought to trademark “Meowingtons” in 2015, he found the name was claimed by a cat-themed online store also called Meowingtons. As Billboard reports, the producer is now seeking to take over the Meowingtons trademark by arguing that he had it first: Zimmerman adopted Prof. Meowingtons in 2010, while the online store opened in 2014.
According to Deadmau5’s trademark cancelation petition, the name has caused confusion among fans who’ve tagged his cat’s other Twitter account, @meowingtons, to inquire about cat gear from the online store, which posts as @meowingtonsco. Read and relish the EDM cat-themed legalese absurdity that is Deadmau5’s full-length trademark petition here.
