Subject:
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Danish Toymaker Lego Loses EU Trademark Court Case
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lugnet.mediawatch
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Date:
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Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:38:59 GMT
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WORLD NEWS:
November 12th, 2008
Danish Toymaker Lego Loses EU Trademark Court Case On Iconic Building Blocks To
Recent Rival Canadian Mega Brands
Linda Young - AHN Editor
Billund, Denmark (AHN) - Danish toymaker Lego lost its fight to protect its
trademark on the colored plastic building blocks in the European market.
European Union's Court of First Instance ruled that the toy maker's competitors
can continue selling building block's in the EU's 27 nations that are similar to
Lego's iconic plastic blocks.
Lego's last worldwide patent for the building blocks it created in 1932 expired
in 1988. Since then competitors have flooded the market with imitations that
don't always perform the way the classic Lego blocks do, critics say.
Lego toys are sold in more than 130 countries around the world.
The court's decision favored toymaker rival Mega Brands Inc., headquartered in
Montreal, Canada. It was founded as Mega Bloks in 1985 and manufactures plastic
building blocks similar to Legos, along with other toys. Its products are found
in stores in 100 countries, including U.S. stores such as Target, Toys "R" Us
and Wal-Mart.
Hungary, however, banned sales of Mega Blocks, ruling that Lego's system of
eight cylindrical studs and holes was not merely a replacement for glue to hold
the blocks together, but a unique system.
The Hungarian court found that there were enough other ways to attach blocks to
each other that Lego's system was able to be patented, rather than just being
classified as a technical solution to holding the bricks together, which is what
the EU court ruled Wednesday.
Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved
Here is the link to the page:
http://www.gantdaily.com/news/36/ARTICLE/36372/2008-11-12.html
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