User blog comment:Titanollante/Zilla 1998 is Godzilla/@comment-25141842-20141129104231/@comment-25285745-20141129215538

Toho did not trademark a parody of the 1998 creature, they literally trademarked its exact design, character, and abilities. As far as Toho is concerned, Zilla is "Godzilla 1998." However, they can't make their copyrights retroactively make the creature in the 1998 film "Zilla." As Matt Frank says, Toho makes no distinction between Godzilla 1998 and Zilla aside from NAME ALONE, meaning they are the exact same character but each incarnation falls under a separate copyright.