A waste clearance business have been ordered to change the name of their firm due to trademark issues.
The refuse firm has breached these certain laws due to a name not too dissimilar from a famous film franchise.
Lawyers of the franchise in question have called the choice of name 'unlawful activity'.
Advert
Two Brighton-based businessmen, Nick Lockwood and Dan Walker, have come under fire for the name they opted to call their waste clearance service.
Lockwood, 36, and Walker, 36, have also been ordered to change their business slogan too.
According to the business' official Instagram page, the waste clearance company operates with 'a focus on making a positive environmental impact [and] 97% of waste is recycled and diverted from landfill'.
The two men combined one of the largest film franchises with a key part of their day-to-day business activities to come up with an incredibly punny, albeit risky, name.
Advert
Opting for 'Lord of the Bins' as their company name, the two-man collection service shortly received some backlash from Middle-earth Enterprises.
Middle-earth Enterprises, formerly known as Tolkien Enterprises, is the company that owns all the rights of both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchises - and they were not happy.
Alongside this, Middle-earth also saw trademark issues with the slogan: "One ring to remove it all."
Speaking to The Sun, Lockwood said: "If we don’t turn up on time, no one’s going to chuck their Lord of the Rings DVD in the bin.
Advert
"And if they bring out a box office smash, I don’t think more people are going to ring up for waste collection."
The 36-year-old also dubbed Middle-earth's cease and desist notice 'bullyboy tactics'.
Lockwood noted the issues with rebranding, highlighting that the two-man team would have to spend 'thousands of pounds' to make such changes the Tolkien franchise were ordering.
"We now have the prospect of spending thousands of pounds and [a lot of] effort on rebranding," he explained, "to appease a multibillion-pound company."
However, seeing the positives in the fiasco, Lockwood added that the waste collection company would 'survive this storm'.
Advert
Lord of the Bins have also taken to Instagram to release a statement on the matter.
It reads: "Middle-earth enterprises has sent, and is enforcing a cease and desist, claiming we’re in breach of their trademarks.
"They claim customers could confuse that we're endorsed, by or affiliated to Lord of the Rings.
"Anyone in their right mind know we’re a completely separate and non-competitive business.
Advert
"Our last hope is making enough noise to help them see sense."
The legal letter sent by the Tolkien franchise says that Lockwood and Walker's name choice amounts to an 'infringement' of their client’s 'trademark rights' over the 'similar' name.
Outlining that it reserved the right to 'seek damages', Middle-earth enterprises added that the Lord of the Bins name choice amounted to 'unlawful activity'.
Walker, also 36, said: “We can’t afford to fight them. We’re just trying to make people smile and make a living.”
Lockwood added: "We will survive this storm and continue providing a great service for our city, whatever our name."
LADbible has reached out to Middle-earth Enterprises for comment.
Topics: Lord Of The Rings, Weird, UK News
Rhiannon Ingle