If you enjoy movies about fictional superheroes, then you’re probably familiar with Captain America and his miraculous shield. Recently, however, his shield showed up in a most unlikely place—the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

Captain America first appeared as a comic book character in 1940, and since then has been valuable intellectual property of Marvel Comics, an operating unit of Marvel Entertainment. Marvel Entertainment was acquired by the Walt Disney Co. in 2009 for $4 billion. Captain America’s shield is also a valuable piece of intellectual property, and Disney has (and will) take proper steps to protect it.