The Davezilla blog site is under threat from humourless owners of the Godzilla trademark, Toho Ltd., for using the venerable *zilla name and having a goofy cartoon lizard in their graphics.

Among the more absurd claims against the blogger is the likelihood of consumer confusion over his "reptile-like character."

"Please be advised that your use of the Godzilla mark constitutes a trademark infringement and confuses consumers and the public into believing that your 'Godzilla' character originates from Toho, which it does not," the nastygram says.

Obviously, if the real Godzilla had looked even remotely like Dave's anorexic 'reptile-like character' not a single Japanese would have fled from him:

He'd have been dispatched with a garden hose by a gang of schoolchildren at his first appearance, and reams of expensive film might have been spared and possibly placed in the hands of someone with a clue, like Kurosowa, say.

"Guess the little dragon at the top has to go bye-bye. At least they are letting me keep the domain name. A few inaccuracies: I have, until today, never mentioned Godzilla, nor do I have any imagery of him on this site. Nor do I refer to my logo as Godzilla. It's always been, 'That little dragon guy.' Could have been a lot worse. Expect a new banner this week and changes to the colophon," Dave says.

Now we have to wonder if Mozilla.org will be Toho's next target. Consider that the priceless *zilla mark is again in flagrant use, and further that their "reptile-like character" is a good deal more muscular and healthy than Dave's -- far more like the famous fire-breathing original:

One imagines that upwards of ten or perhaps even fifteen drug-addled, brain-damaged Web surfers could be confounded by that one. ®