April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Subway, the largest U.S. restaurant chain, was sued by Toho Co., the Japanese maker of the Godzilla movies, which said the prehistoric monster was used without permission in Subway's television advertisements.

Subway ``not only intentionally created a character that closely resembles Godzilla in its physical appearance, but placed the character in a setting, a Japanese city under attack, that is widely associated with Toho's Godzilla films,'' the movie maker said in a complaint filed today in Los Angeles.

Subway never asked Toho's permission to use Godzilla in the commercials for its ``Five Dollar Footlong'' sandwich promotion, according to the complaint. The ads were shown during the NCAA basketball tournament and on programs such as ``American Idol,'' the most popular entertainment show on television, Toho said. The company seeks up to $150,000 in statutory damages for willful infringement or disgorgement of Subway's profits from the ads, as well as other unspecified damages.

Mack Bridenbaker, a spokesman for closely held Subway in Milford, Connecticut, didn't immediately return a call to his office after business hours.

The case is Toho Co. v. Doctor's Associates Inc. d/b/a Subway, 08-2511, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 16, 2008 21:36 EDT