- JRR Token is unable to defeat the Tolkien Estate in a ruling that forced the project to shut down and cease trading
- Developer Jensen promised to delete any content that infringes the estate’s trademark rights to the J.R.R Tolkien name and property relating to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
- Steve Maier, the estate’s lawyer described that the case is a particularly flagrant case of infringement
JRR Token are created with the theme of Lord of the Rings. However, these tokens have met a bag end after being forced to close up shop following legal actions from the family and estate of J.R.R. Tolkein. Indeed, Tolkien is the famed series’ author who died in 1973. Although the time of the tokens has come, it is unable to defeat the Tolkien Estate in a ruling that forced the project to shut down and cease trading. According to a recent report from Law360, the Estate had reached a settlement with Florida-based developer Matthew Jensen on JRR Token.
JRR Token will be shut down
JRR Token was launched in August this year. According to data from Binance Smart Chain’s BSCScan, the BEP-20 token is only held by 510 addresses with a total market capitalization of 19 trillion. Notably, according to the recent settlement among the developers and Tolkien Estate, it is promised that the project will be shut down. Moreover, developer Jensen also underscored that he will delete any content that infringes the estate’s trademark rights to the J.R.R Tolkien name and property relating to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Flagrant case of infringement
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Besides the promises, Jensen also agreed to pay the estate’s legal costs. However, the costs are yet to be uncovered. Indeed, since then JRR Token’s social accounts, Youtube channel, and official website has been deleted. Following the scenario, Steve Maier, the estate’s lawyer described that the case is a particularly flagrant case of infringement. Furthermore, the lawyer also added that the Tolkien Estate is pleased that the case has been concluded on a satisfactory term.
Tolkien Estate recovered a website domain
The recent judgement ruled after Tolkien Estate recovered the website domain name “jrrtoken.com”. The estate filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in August. Notably, At the time, WIPO ruled that Jensen registered and used the domain name in bad faith. Following such claims, the developer changed the domain name to “thetokenofpower.com”.
However, the estate again claimed that the website still includes some of the images of the popular series’ rings, Hobbit holes and a wizard with a striking resemblance to Gandalf.
According to the developer’s lawyer, the disputed domain name of the JRR Token is not identical or confusingly similar to the Tolkien Estate’s trademarked JRR Tolkien, as it does not include the additional letters ‘L’ and ‘I’. Moreover, the lawyer also discerned that the names are also pronounced differently. Simultaneously, Jensen also argued that the domain name included JRR which stands for “Journey through Risk to Reward”. It is also notable that the developer had to claim the domain because “jrrcrypto.com” was unavailable.
However, John Swinson, WIPO panel member, highlighted that the project’s website is clearly a commercial venture. Indeed, According to Swinson, there is no doubt that the respondents were aware of Tolkien’s works and created the project to trade off the fame of these works.
