All the more reason for other mini-manufacturers to have ranges and games that are markedly different to GW's stock-in-trade.
From GW's Investor section of their website:
Quote:
We are also clear that we will only make fantasy miniatures, not historical ones. Fantasy miniatures from our own Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 worlds allow us unlimited scope for product innovation. In addition, we can, and do, defend our intellectual property rigorously against imitators, thus ensuring that our worlds are synonymous with quality.
GW has limited scope with Middle-earth as the IP rights belong to other people and GW are only one licensee among many, though I submit that they hope to have their profile raised by default through association with The Hobbit movies.
Look at the proliferation in games companies in the past 13 years. I see this as a very good thing. Most of them seem to appreciate that they cannot rest on past glories and expect people to throw cash at them.
Last word: regardless of how the complex judgements go in this and any other case, the only people making money out of the litigation are the lawyers.