Exxon Mobil is taking environmental pressure group Greenpeace to court over the alleged misuse of its Esso logo.

Greenpeace is one of several groups behind the Stop E$$o campaign, charging that Exxon helped engineer the collapse of the Kyoto treaty on climate change and urging consumers to boycott the company.

Esso France, the division that filed the lawsuit, claims that the replacement of the double ‘s’ with two dollar signs is against the law and tarnishes its reputation. It also believes the logo has been altered in such a way as to draw parallels with the elite Nazi corps, the SS.

The plaintiff wants the court to force Greenpeace to take the logo from the campaign’s website or pay €80,000 (£52,000; $79,000) in damages per day. A hearing is scheduled for Monday.

“This is just ridiculous,” blasted the pressure group’s executive director Gerd Leipold. “Esso knows it can't win a debate about climate change and it won’t discuss the content of the website. Instead Esso is trying to gag us with legal threats.”

Data sourced from: MediaGuardian.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff