In a courtroom drama that’ll have both fantasy and fast food lovers invested, Aussie restaurant chain Lord of the Fries has come out on top in a legal dispute over its pun-laden name against none other than the Lord of the Rings rights holder.
As reported by The Age, vegan burger chain Lord of the Fries — a staple for many veggos and vegans on a night out — has won a dispute over the three words shared with the popular franchise by J.R.R. Tolkien.
It’s understood US-based company Middle-earth Enterprises LLC — which owns the global exclusive rights to certain elements of Tolkien’s two most famous works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings — contested an application by the Australian brand to trademark the words “Lord of the”.
The US company holds the intellectual property rights and merchandising rights to the fantasy novels, the successful film franchise, stage productions, as well as video games, card games, and toys and collectibles.
The film series — filmed in New Zealand — has grossed over $2.9 billion worldwide. (Image source: IMDb)
As part of its bid, it pointed out previous successful attempts to stop other business names using the phrase, which includes global chain Lord of the Wings that has stores in Australia, Spain, Lebanon, Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.
However, the popular wings brand had a “much greater visual and phonetic similarity” than Lord of the Fries does, according to Trade Marks registrar delegate Nicholas Smith’s ruling.
Meanwhile, according to Lord of the Fries’ defence, it has a “distinct niche as a convenient, vegan fast food restaurant that operates in an entirely different reputation” to that of Middle-earth Enterprises, as reported by The Age.
In Australia, conflicts regarding intellectual property, such as business names, are governed by the Trade Marks Act of 1995. This case was ruled on by the registrar of trademarks, a position within the federal government agency, IP Australia.
In his ruling, Smith observed that Middle-earth tried to emphasize the 2004 decision to name the brand Lord of the Fries as a reference to William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies and suggested it could be a nod to Lord of the Rings.
But he found this argument irrelevant, noting Lord of the Fries had been a variation of a trademark used by the business for 15 years. He also pointed out that Middle-earth selectively presented evidence that seemed to suggest the burger chain deliberately made design choices to capitalise on the similarity between the two names.
The restaurants serve vegan dishes such as loaded fries, veggie burgers, hot dogs. (Image source: Google Maps)
Lord of the Fries opened in Melbourne in 2004 with a “mobile chip van” and opened its first store in late 2005. It expanded to New Zealand in 2016 with its first store in Auckland, as reported by the NZ Herald which has since closed.
Before the pandemic, Lord of the Fries operated around 27 outlets across Australia and New Zealand, per news.com.au. As of 2025, the Aussie chain now has a handful of stores in Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to Lord of the Fries and Middle-earth Enterprises for comment.
Lead image: Google Maps / IMDb
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