MacRumors.com

TechCrunch reports that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded a trademark for the "Mighty Mouse" term in its "computer cursor control devices" category to Man & Machine, a Landover, Maryland company specializing in waterproof keyboards and mice for medical and industrial settings.

Man & Machine has offered several generations of its Mighty Mouse product, claiming a priority date in its trademark application of March 16th, 2004 as the company's first use of the term in commerce. Apple introduced its original Mighty Mouse in August 2005.

The company has a press release for the trademark decision; clearly, they are jazzed about the win.

And they should be. Though they never mention Apple by name, they do say that "Others have used the name Mighty Mouse for their computer mice and have sought registration of that trademark, but now the United States government has spoken."

Apple is widely expected to introduce a new mouse in the near future, with drawings of a new Bluetooth keyboard and mouse having appeared on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's website for a brief period last week before being removed.