Sateur denies trademark infringement, but removes collection citing fears of a costly court battle against a ‘billion-dollar corporation’
A Hong Kong online jewellery shop sued by The Walt Disney Company for trademark infringement has withdrawn its entire Mickey Mouse-themed collection, despite denying any brand violation.
Sateur, operated by Red Earth Group Limited, removed the products after legal advice warned of the potential for a lengthy multimillion-dollar court battle.
The company said that, while it believed it had lawfully used the 1928 version of the character, which entered the US public domain in 2024, it was yielding to the pressure of facing a “billion-dollar corporation”.
“While we believe we followed the law and the exact guidelines laid out by Duke Professor Jennifer Jenkins, most lawyers expressed sympathy but explained they could not take on a case of this scale within our budget,” the company told the Post.
