In fact the word Gabibbo or Gabibbu [ɡaˈbibbu] belongs to the Genoese language and it is used to indicate, in an ironic-depreciative way, an immigrant from southern or even central Italy (it may originate from the Arab wordhabib).
Western Kentucky claims it has a case because in an interview with Novella 2000, Ricci states that he created Gabibbo after seeing Western Kentucky's mascot, further adding that Gabibbo is in fact, "(an imported) Big Red".
Ricci claims he was joking in that interview, saying that he made the remark after Novella pointed out the similarities between Big Red and Gabibbo.
However, Gabibbo's head is almost an exact copy of Big Red's (a fact repeated by The New York Times' business section, who quip that Gabibbo is simply a "better dressed" version of Big Red) and that Big Red debuted in 1979, almost eleven years prior to Gabibbo.
On 12 December 2007, Gabibbo and Antonio Ricci were found to not be liable for infringement by the court of appeals in Milan.