In a recent blog post, we discussed The Hobbit producers’ trademark dispute with Global Asylum, the makers of the upcoming mockbuster movie “Age of the Hobbits”. The Hobbit producers claim that Asylum’s reference to hobbits in their movie title infringes rights under a trademark registration. Asylum countered claiming that the term hobbits refer to a recently discovered human sub-species and as such, they are entitled to use the term under the legal doctrine of fair use. In an effort to bolster their infringement position, The Hobbit producers have commissioned an interesting study aimed at showing a likelihood of confusion, which is one of the legal requirements to establish trademark infringement. (For more details on the story, see The Hollywood Reporter article by clicking here. story here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/hobbit-trademark-lawsuit-producers-enlist-394685).
Continue reading “Hobbit Producers Commission Study to Establish Trademark Infringement”
Developing your product or an idea for service and securing funding might seem like a piece of cake when compared with registering a trademark. It is painfully easy to unintentionally steal someone’s intellectual property if you do not follow all of the necessary steps to prevent such an oversight. Moreover, without support, a business owner can become the victim of theft too easily.