Co. Files Suit over Actual Light Fixture Based on Animated Pixar Lamp Persona

Seeing a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company create an animated desk-lamp character on the silver screen that apparently was based on its own actual lamp design didn't bother a Norwegian manufacturer.

But after learning that there allegedly are plans afoot to sell an actual lamp that is a miniature version of its own lighting product, Luxo ASA is trying to put on the brakes, reports the New York Daily News.

The company filed suit last week in federal court in Manhattan, contending that the "Limited Edition Luxo Jr. lamp" that Pixar Animation Studios and Disney reportedly plan to market as a tie-in with a copy of Disney's hit film Up is an infringement of its own trademark.

Pixar founder John Lasseter has said that the squeaky animated lamp character, which appeared in the opening credits of Toy Story and has been part of the the Pixar corporate logo since 1986, was based on his own Luxo lamp, the newspaper recounts.

Pixar referred calls to Disney, which didn't immediately comment, the Daily News reports.