Lawyers for major fast nutrient chain Jack in the Box have filed a lawsuit against crypto exchange FTX The states for copyright and trademark infringement of its "Jack" mascot.

According to federal courtroom documents filed in the Southern Commune of California on Midweek, Jack in the Box's legal team is requesting a jury trial, claiming FTX The states' Moon Man character — Lou Nar, an adult male typically dressed in polo shirts with the head of a moon used for Major League Baseball game events — is a ripoff of the company's current version of its Jack mascot. The fast-food company describes its character as "a typical adult human being male, with the exception of his big spherical white head, blue dot eyes, nose, and curvy grinning."

"Rather than spending its vast financial resource to develop its own intellectual belongings, FTX brazenly and illegally copied or derived its 'Moon Human being' mascot from JITB'due south Jack," the company alleged in court documents:

"Merely like Jack, FTX's Moon Man has a spherical white head also affixed to a talking human actor, with blue-dotted eyes, a nose, and a smile. The ii characters are strikingly like in both appearance and beliefs. For case, the Moon Man too changes his facial expressions and habiliment attire throughout advertisements and appearances, simply like Jack."

Jack in the Box's legal team added that it considered the FTX Us mascot a "far inferior version" of Jack, claiming it was tarnishing the fast-nutrient company's reputation among consumers. The documents list incidents of reporters and many on social media comparing the 2 characters' appearance, sometimes describing the Moon Human as a "dirty" version of Jack.

Though the original version of Jack in the Box's character was created in 1951, the current 'Jack' or 'Jack I. Box' voiced past Dick Sitting was adult in 1995 and appeared in more than 300 television set and radio commercials. Crypto exchange FTX was founded in 2022 and introduced the Moon Homo this year.

The filing shows lawyers for Jack in the Box sent FTX a finish and desist letter to stop using the character on Oct. xv, to which FTX refused, claiming "Jack in the Box has only narrow protection limited to the behatted ping pong‐headed clown who exploded out of a box to sell burgers." Jack in the Box's case includes allegations related to copyright infringement, trademark dilution, trademark infringement, false designation of origin and unfair competition.

Related: Copyright infringement and NFTs: How artists can protect themselves

Many pictures, symbols and memes have frequently been used by figures in the crypto space to pump or create FUD around some tokens, including Pepe the Frog, and even the Bitcoin (BTC) logo, itself, attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto. In June 2022, someone anonymously registered the BTC proper noun and logo with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office claiming they wanted to "protect Bitcoin."