“Charlie is a teddy bear who lives in a human, adult world with all human friends. Charlie has a penchant for drinking, smoking, prostitutes, and is a generally vulgar yet humorous character,” it said in a lawsuit. The production company said Ted was “strikingly similar” to Charlie, and that MacFarlane had copied Charlie without its authorisation.

Ted, starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis as well as the voice of MacFarlane in the title role, was the 12th highest grossing film of 2012, according to the lawsuit. Overall the movie is also the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time, earning nearly $220 million in the US and $550 million worldwide.

The 16-page lawsuit includes a long list of similar expletive-laced lines from Charlie and Ted. Among the less foul-mouthed are Charlie’s “I have a life mission and it is to drink,” juxtaposed with Ted’s “I drink on Tuesday night to celebrate the fact that it ain’t Monday night.”

The production company—whose lawsuit also includes side-by-side photos of the two bears, with beers in hand—is seeking unspecified damages as well as legal fees. MacFarlane’s “infringing conduct is continuing and ongoing,” it said. “Plaintiff has suffered, and will continue to suffer, irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law, unless Defendants are enjoined by the Court.”

A sequel, Ted 2, is due for release in June 2015.