A high-profile Quebec lawyer is asking for a DNA test on a winning Tim Hortons coffee cup, claiming that his client is its rightful owner.

Claude Archambault said his client threw out the cup and should get the "Roll up the Rim" prize that is being fought over by two Montreal families.

Earlier this week, a 10-year-old girl found the unrolled cup in a garbage can in her school. She enlisted the help of a 12-year-old friend to roll up the cup's rim. They discovered the cup was the winner of a $28,700 Toyota RAV 4.

Claude Archambault

Since then, their families have been bickering over who should get the prize.

The Quebec government agency that regulates contests said the whole thing seems to be spinning out of control.

"What's next, a claim by the person who printed the cup? Or delivered it?" said spokesman Rejean Theriault.

Quebec does have a system of mediation to settle disputes over contest prizes.

Archambault thinks this dispute appears to be headed for court.

He said his client – a man whose name he won't reveal – claims he's the one who threw the cup out without rolling up the rim first.

"My client bought the cup and my client went in the school and there was only one cup in the garbage and another witness saw him with the cup."

Archambault wants the cup tested for his client's DNA and has formally asked Tim Hortons to keep the prize until this is settled.

"He's not rich, he's not looking for publicity. He just wants to know if he has a right," the lawyer said.

The company said as far as it's concerned, the prize isn't close to being given to anyone yet.