[Brighton] Lord of the Bins

[Bozza]

A waste collection firm in Brighton has been told by lawyers for the Lord of the Rings franchise to change its name.

Lord of the Bins collects household, building and office waste across East Sussex and West Sussex.

Nick Lockwood and Dan Walker, who run the company, said they were contacted by Middle-earth Enterprises, who own the worldwide rights to The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The pair said they faced the prospect of spending thousands to rebrand.

"Middle-earth Enterprises has sent and is enforcing a cease and desist, claiming we're in breach of their trademarks," Mr Lockwood said.

"They claim customers could think they were endorsed by or affiliated to Lord Of The Rings."

 

[Papa Lazarou]

The Tolkien Estate are very very protective about their IP.

 

[GT49er]

What a load of bollocks. 'Lord of the' followed by another word is hardly unique.

 

[fruitnveg]

The Tolkien Estate are very very protective about their IP.

If that were true, they never would have greenlit that shite on Amazon.

 

[Yes Chef]

I was talking to one work colleague yesterday who referred to another (slightly nerdy) colleague as 'Lord of the Cringe', which I thought was pretty funny

 

[Seagull27]

In fairness to the Tolkien Estate, when you see the full advert it's pretty clear that they're using Lord of the Rings. With a tagline of "one ring to remove it all".

I do think it's a bit much for these huge organisations to enforce this with tiny companies though. It's not exactly impacting the Lord of the Rings enterprise in any way.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

If that were true, they never would have greenlit that shite on Amazon.

They got paid a lot for that.

 

[Goldstone1976]

I do think it's a bit much for these huge organisations to enforce this with tiny companies though. It's not exactly impacting the Lord of the Rings enterprise in any way.

The problem that any company has in their situation is that if they don’t defend their IP/trademark against anyone they become aware of who are infringing, that becomes a defence for anyone who subsequently infringes.

It would be a partial defence if Coca Cola ran a global campaign using LOTR IP to say ‘We know you knew about ‘Lord of the Bins’. You did nothing. You obviously don”t care. Your defence against us is nothing to do with protecting your IP; it’s to do with trying to stop our client going about their legitimate business’

Obviously, I’ve extrapolated somewhat - Coke would need to show multiple cases where LOTR didn’t protect their IP - but it does illustrate why companies with very strong brands are often very touchy about others using it. It’s the thin end of the wedge.

 

[Muzzman]

Did ‘Lord of the Dance’ have to change theirs too?

 

[BadFish]

Home - Lord of the Bins

One ring to remove it all. Waste clearance specialists operating throughout the South East of England.

lotb-ltd.com

Bit of a steal of intellectual property here. Hardly surprising.

 

[BBassic]

He-Van: Movers of the Universe must be looking at this a touch concerned.

 

[mashman156]

I hate the fact that a multi-billion pound enterprise threatens legal action against a small business.

Same thing with The Hobbit pub in Southampton a few years back. Great little themed pub with character cocktails, live music and huge garden which nearly went bust. Luckily it was eventually all dropped when Ian McKellen stepped in.

Is it really hurting anyone or damaging the brand in any way?

 

[wellquickwoody]

Unenforceable in my view. But the only way to find out is to go to court,

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

NSC: Lords Of The Binfest

 

[The Optimist]

Home - Lord of the Bins

One ring to remove it all. Waste clearance specialists operating throughout the South East of England.

lotb-ltd.com

Bit of a steal of intellectual property here. Hardly surprising.

If it was just the name that would be one thing, but the whole logo is a copy.

 

[bluenitsuj]

Did Lord of the rings copy Lord of the flies?

 

[The Optimist]

There was once a cement mixing company called Jim’ll Mix It. They changed their name but for slightly different reasons.

 

[SweatyMexican]

I think it’s a bit of a tolkien gesture.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I think it’s a bit of a tolkien gesture.

I think they're being a bit precious.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

While not the legal standpoint, for me it comes down to 'Is the copyright owner losing any money ?' due to the infringement - in this case the answer is no so no case to answer.