The Shire Was Just Filed as a Theme Park Trademark for the Third Time Since 2015, and the First Two Attempts Both Died
On August 31, Middle-earth Enterprises, LLC filed two new trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. One is THE SHIRE. The other is LA COMARCA, and the application supplies its own gloss: "The English translation of the Spanish wording LA COMARCA in the mark is The Shire." Each covers a single line of goods and services: "Providing theme park services."
It is the third time the holder of the Middle-earth theme park rights has filed THE SHIRE with that claim. The first two are dead.
Islands of Adventure, where fans have pointed the speculation. The filings themselves name no park. Image: Universal Orlando Resort
What was actually filed
Both applications are service marks on the Principal Register, filed in standard characters, and both are intent to use filings, which means no park has to exist yet. Both are class 041. Both list the owner as Middle-earth Enterprises, LLC of Livermore, California, and both were filed in house, with Megan Martin of Middle-earth Enterprises listed as the attorney of record. The 2015 and 2019 applications were both handled by Michael A. Grow of Arent Fox, later ArentFox Schiff.
As of the time of writing, both sit at LIVE/APPLICATION/Awaiting Examination, which is the queue before an examining attorney is even assigned. There is one small tell in the paperwork. The docket number on both applications reads WB/PROS/LH/REFILE.
The two that died
The Saul Zaentz Company, which held these rights before Embracer Group bought Middle-earth Enterprises in 2022, filed THE SHIRE for theme park services twice.
The 2015 application was filed February 11, 2015, published that June, and received a Notice of Allowance on February 23, 2016. It was abandoned on April 1, 2019.
The 2019 application was filed February 19, 2019, published that May, and received a Notice of Allowance on July 16, 2019. It was abandoned on August 22, 2022.
Both died the same way, and the USPTO record gives the same reason for each: "Abandoned because no Statement of Use or Extension Request timely filed after Notice of Allowance was issued." In plain terms, the mark cleared examination and the owner was given the window to show it was actually providing the service in commerce. In both cases the owner filed all five extension requests the USPTO allows, stretching that window to its three year statutory limit, and then the application went abandoned because no Statement of Use ever followed.
One thing did change
The earlier filings were broader. Both the 2015 and the 2019 applications covered two classes: "Providing theme park services" in class 041 and "Restaurant services" in class 043. The 2015 application was broader still. A third service, "Providing temporary accommodations," was divided out of it in 2016 and registered on its own that July as Registration Number 5003525. That registration is still live, and it was renewed for another ten years on August 26, 2026, five days before the new applications went in. The 2026 refile drops restaurants entirely and claims theme park services only.
The rights themselves moved in the meantime. Embracer Group announced its agreement to acquire Middle-earth Enterprises on August 18, 2022, four days before the 2019 application formally went abandoned. That announcement listed "theme parks and stage productions relating to the iconic fantasy literary works The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien" among the rights involved.
The Lost Continent entrance griffin, photographed in 2012. The land is closing in phases. Image: Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Why Orlando noticed
The timing is the only reason this is an Orlando story at all. Universal said in May that venues and experiences inside The Lost Continent at Islands of Adventure "will permanently close in phases to make way for a new themed area," and construction walls now enclose almost the entire land. Universal has not said what that new area is, and a Lord of the Rings land has been one of several persistent fan guesses for the site. Inside the Magic connected the new filings to Orlando in a piece posted September 4 and updated September 5.
That piece is careful about it, and so is this one. Inside the Magic states plainly that "A Lord of the Rings land at Universal Orlando, however, is not confirmed," and that "Neither application names Universal, Islands of Adventure, Epic Universe, Toon Lagoon, The Lost Continent, Orlando, or Florida as the intended location."
The archway into The Lost Continent, also photographed in 2012. Image: Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What the filings do not say
They do not name an operator. They do not name a country, a state or a city. They do not name a partner. Middle-earth Enterprises' own Location Based Experiences page currently describes exactly one property, the Hobbiton Movie Set in New Zealand, and no theme park anywhere.
What the record does show is a company that has now asked for the same theme park claim three times across more than eleven years, and has twice run an application out to the end of the extension clock without ever filing the Statement of Use that would have shown it was providing theme park services. The third attempt is narrower than the first two, and it is a week old.
Sources
USPTO TSDR, THE SHIRE, Serial Number 50082608
USPTO TSDR, LA COMARCA, Serial Number 50082596
USPTO TSDR, THE SHIRE, Serial Number 88307534
USPTO TSDR, THE SHIRE, Serial Number 86531252
Embracer Group, "Embracer Group enters into agreement to acquire IP rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit literary works by J.R.R Tolkien"
Middle-earth Enterprises, "Location Based Experiences"
Inside the Magic, "Universal Erases 27-Year-Old Islands of Adventure Land as Massive Middle-Earth Land Takes Over"
Amusement Today, "Universal Orlando Resort prepares for exciting new experiences across the destination"
Attractions Magazine, "Lost Continent demolition updates: original Islands of Adventure area fades away"
Image credits: Universal Orlando Resort (Islands of Adventure), Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (The Lost Continent griffin and archway, both 2012).
