The "Hobbit" Trademark Infringement

The group behind the upcoming Peter Jackson-directed epic based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novel filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles today against the Global Asylum, makers of the other movie with "Hobbits" in the title.

"The Asylum has been and is promoting and advertising its low-budget film using the confusingly similar and misleading title Age of the Hobbits, in an intentional and willful attempt (i) to trade on the popularity and goodwill associated with the Tolkien novels, the extraordinarily successful Lord of The Rings film trilogy, and the famous HOBBIT mark, (ii) to free-ride on the worldwide advertising campaign in connection with the forthcoming Hobbit films, and (iii) to divert customers and potential customers away from the Hobbit films."

"Age of the Hobbits is about the real-life human subspecies, Homo Floresiensis, discovered in 2003 in Indonesia, which have been uniformly referred to as 'Hobbits' in the scientific community," a rep for The Asylum told THR in a statement when the legal dispute first erupted. "As such, the use of the term 'Hobbits' is protected under the legal doctrines of nominal and traditional fair use. Indeed, a simple Google search of Hobbits and archaeology reveals dozens of articles containing the term "Hobbit(s)" in the title."

Read Full Complaint: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/HobbitComplaintGlobalAsylum.pdf.pdf
Read More Here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/hobbit-movie-producers-sue-age-387585