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Subject: 
Re: Trademark defense doesn't work vs Mega Bloks
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general
Date: 
Wed, 4 Aug 2004 05:15:50 GMT
Viewed: 
119 times
  
In lugnet.mediawatch, Erik Olson wrote:
   Saw this scroll by on Bloomberg:

Mega Bloks Confirms Cancellation of Lego Shape Mark by European Union Trademark Office

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-02-2004/0002223318

Hey all, back from a long lurk and I see this!

Well, that’s fair enough. The LEGO trademark on the standard brick must have expired years ago, it’s only the fact that the community automatically associates said brick design with LEGO that prevented Megabloks taking it for themselves ages ago. The problem I see here is that if Megabloks go too far with this, they will start getting their products confused for LEGO’s, resulting in customer backlash when it is discovered that the toy they bought for their little darlings is not, in fact, LEGO, but an inferior brand (Now that I own some Megabloks, I can say whatever I want) that is soft and hard to keep together. I can imagine the complaint call:

“Hello, Megabloks customer service, how can I help you?”

“I bought this kit for my son/daughter, thinking it was LEGO, but when they opened it, they noticed that the parts were poor quality compared to LEGO, and they fall apart really easily. Is there a way to get a refund or an exchange for the real thing?”

“I’m sorry, we can’t do that.”

“Well, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’ll certainly be buying less of your product in the future!”

clunk

The other problem I see here has little relation to the Megabloks issue and a lot to do with the media (hence the x-posting) This website is supposedly a news site, i.e, an impartial participant here to deliver news. This report seems extremely biased to me - and not because of the content, it is simply because of the blatant advertising at the bottom of the page for Megabloks. I see no mention of Lego, and no links so that comparisons can be made by the consumer. Hmmmmmmmm...

Well, perhaps that’s just how it is. anyway, I will definitely be buying MORE of LEGO’s product in the future ;)

Cheers, Matt

“Make it so”



Message has 3 Replies:
  Re: Trademark defense doesn't work vs Mega Bloks
 
Hi Matt, (...) don't confuse trademarks (which don't expire), patents (which do 20 years after filing), and copyright (which expire 70 years ofter the death of the creator). Here LEGO had a patent on the shape of the blocks, which expired long ago, (...) (20 years ago, 4-Aug-04, to lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general)
  Re: Trademark defense doesn't work vs Mega Bloks
 
(...) Impartial? Well, sort of, but not in the way that you seem to think. It's called PRNewswire. PR, as in Press Release or Press Relations. This appears to be a website where various corporations can upload their press releases for various news (...) (20 years ago, 4-Aug-04, to lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general, FTX)
  Re: Trademark defense doesn't work vs Mega Bloks
 
(...) This won't likely happen. Previous lawsuits have ruled that MEGABLOKS has erred in marketing its product in a way that can confuse the buyer into thinking that MEGABLOKS are affiliated with or endorsed by LEGO. Therefore, for close to a (...) (20 years ago, 4-Aug-04, to lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general, FTX)

Message is in Reply To:
  Trademark defense doesn't work vs Mega Bloks
 
Saw this scroll by on Bloomberg: Mega Bloks Confirms Cancellation of Lego Shape Mark by European Union Trademark Office (URL) (20 years ago, 4-Aug-04, to lugnet.mediawatch)

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