Odd lawsuits

[Lisa]

Allstate dragged food maker Kraft into court during an argument over a house fire.
Allstate claimed that Kraft's "Toastette" pastries are flammable and caused the fire that burned the house that Allstate insured, and now doesn't want to pay out on.

Wal-Mart sued K-Mart in federal court over the "Lazy Susan" rotating carousels that hold plastic bags at the checkout lane. Wal-Mart claims a patent on the holders and is intent on making sure that K-Mart stores are left without rotating plastic bags.

Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, Inc sued Disney to stop the release of the children's tale, George of the Jungle 2.
Caterpillar claims that the Disney film about wild animals attempting to protect their jungle homes might hurt the reputation of bulldozers and other Caterpillar equipment.

Nike tried to fight for their right to lie to the public.
The California Supreme Court ruled that Nike violated a consumer protection law by publicizing "false and misleading information" about its use of abusive sweatshop labor in poor countries. Nike claimed that if it had to follow the law and be honest that would hurt their business and their public relations activities.

Kellogg sued a local golf course, Toucan Golf, Inc., because the name and picture of an actual toucan on its logo was too similar to the company's imaginary Froot Loops bird Toucan Sam. The U.S. Federal Courts informed the corporation that real toucans existed first and golf courses have little to do with selling children's cereal.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Mattel over allegations that a 1997 pop song by the group Aqua referred to the well-endowed plastic Barbie as a "bimbo." The Barbie the Bimbo lawsuit spent five years in the court system before finally being dropped.

Hasbro sued over allegations that a cereal box game featuring Tony the Tiger (Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereal icon) looked too much like some long forgotten game that Hasbro
made in the 1960s.

Soap making rivals Amway and Proctor & Gamble have spent seven years fighting in court over strange allegations that Proctor & Gamble is Satanic, and/or that Amway is spreading rumors that P&G is Satanic.