NEW ORLEANS — The Japanese company that produced the classic series of “Godzilla” movies has sued a New Orleans brewery, claiming the MechaHopzilla beer brand infringes on its copyrights and trademarks.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans by Toho Co. Ltd. It includes photographs of the Mechagodzilla character Toho introduced in 1974 and a beer can produced by New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Co. LLC, known as NOLA Brewing.

The lawsuit says NOLA Brewing did not get permission from or pay Toho to use the trademarked character.

Brewery president and CEO Kirk Coco says his company applied for a trademark when the beer went on sale last year.

He says he hadn’t heard of Toho until the company filed papers opposing the proposed MechaHopzilla trademark.