species discovered in 2003 and unofficially nicknamed "the hobbit" after its 2004 publication, because of its small stature. SZC refused permission to use the word "hobbit" in publicising the lecture. The same year, The Asylum tried to release a mockbuster film with the title Age of the Hobbits. SZC and Warner sued, alleging Asylum's title was confusingly similar and violated its trademarks on the word "hobbit". Asylum claimed that its film was about Homo floresiensis, "uniformly referred to as 'Hobbits' in the scientific community", and also cited the word hobbit'''s appearance in the Denham Tracts. The U.S. District Court said Asylum's evidence did not invalidate the trademark's distinctiveness and granted an injunction; Asylum's film was eventually released as Clash of the Empires. Businesses to which SZC has sent cease-and-desist letters include the Hobbit Grille restaurant in Bonita Springs, Florida in 2007; The Hungry Hobbit café in Birmingham in 2011; a Scottish manufacturer of cylindrical timber lodges called "hobbit houses" in 2011; The Hobbit pub in Southampton in 2012; and an English wine importer called Giraffe and Hobbit in 2016. SZC offered a cheap copyright licence to the pub in response to online criticism of perceived excessive litigiousness. Hobbit Travel of Minnesota won a 2008 case against SZC on the ground of laches (unreasonable delay) as it had used the word "hobbit" in its name since 1976. See also Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings'' Hobbit (unit), a unit of weight or volume formerly used in Wales References Sources Further reading External links Etymologies The Hobbit English words