The property of J.R.R. Tolkien, the writer of The Lord of the Rings, has efficiently vanquished a cryptocurrency that styled itself as “The One Token That Guidelines Them All.”
The JRR Token cryptocurrency launched in August, with a web site that featured rings, hobbit holes, and a wizard with an uncanny resemblance to Gandalf.
However the Tolkien property, which handles the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels, shortly stepped in to lodge a criticism with the World Mental Property Group (WIPO), the worldwide discussion board for mental property coverage.
It famous that the cryptocurrency’s web site area title infringed its emblems. Tolkien’s novels have been made right into a trilogy of Hollywood movies, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Ian McKellen.
In response, legal professionals for Matthew Jensen, JRR Token’s Florida-based developer, mentioned that “token” was a generic time period, shouldn’t be confused with the surname Tolkien, and it didn’t infringe any mental property.
However the WIPO administrative panel resolution concluded that there was little doubt that the developer was “conscious of Tolkien’s works and created a web site to commerce off the celebrity of those works.”
The Tolkien property mentioned it had now recovered the JRRToken.com area title and had obtained the developer’s enterprise to cease all operations beneath the JRR Token title and delete any infringing content material from all related web sites and social media accounts.
Steven Maier, solicitor at regulation agency Maier Blackburn, which acted for the J.R.R. Tolkien property, mentioned this was a “notably flagrant case of infringement” and added that the property was “vigilant” about stopping unauthorized events from making the most of the J.R.R. Tolkien title.
Previously the Tolkien property has sued tourism and merchandise corporations for making use of the writer’s title and literary works, however that is the primary time it has taken motion in opposition to a cryptocurrency.
Johnson Dalal, the US regulation agency representing Jensen, has been contacted for remark however had not responded by time of publication.
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