Sony has announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Jerry Lambert, the actor behind its highly popular PR personality Kevin Butler.

The firm is suing Lambert for appearing in a recent Bridgestone advert associated with Nintendo’s Wii console. Lambert’s character has been used in many PlayStation adverts and was later scrubbed out of the Bridgestone advert using editing tools.

On September 11, Sony Computer Entertainment filed against both Bridgestone and Lambert’s company Wildcat Creek. Sony told Kotaku that the claims are “based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship.”

“We invested significant resources in bringing the Kevin Butler character to life and he’s become an iconic personality directly associated with PlayStation products over the years,” the company added. “Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from PlayStation misappropriates Sony’s intellectual property, creates confusion in the market and causes damage to Sony.”

Attempts were made to settle the lawsuit privately, but obviously these failed.

Are Sony going a little over the top or are they right to sue? Leave your thoughts below.