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In lugnet.general, Mark Tarrabain wrote:
> Erik Bush wrote:
> > Hey All,
> >
> > Did anyone hear about all the "copies" of lego products? TLC posted this on the
> > 14th http://www.lego.com/eng/info/default.asp?page=pressdetail
>
> I noticed this article last week, and it actually got me wondering...
>
> What does toy product "The Brick" do that LEGO finds offensive, exactly?
> What do they do that MegaBloks does not?
James has already touched on this issue, but I thought I’d add my $.02.
The main problem with “The Brick” is that the company produces and sells
inferior quality bricks in sets that very closely mirror the copyrighted
designs of true LEGO products. Even when these sets are not direct copies of
true LEGO sets, they are sufficiently close in appearance and packaging to
cause confusion among consumers as to which products are true LEGO and which
are not. Similarly, because “The Brick” is of inferior quality (primarily in
regards to “clutch power” of the bricks and color consistently), and because
consumers may mistake “The Brick” for true LEGO, TLG is concerned that
consumers may draw incorrect conclusions about LEGO quality. In
addition, “The Brick” appears in some cases to have made molds directly from
true LEGO elements, many of which are still protected by patents owned by
TLG. For these reasons, TLG has argued that it has suffered or may suffer
damage to the marketability of its product and also that “The Brick” is in
direct violation of TLG’s patents.
I own two sets by “The Brick,” and they’re really pretty awful (and I’m a big
fan of clone brands, so I’d be the first to tell you if they were of good
quality).
Anyway, MEGABLOKS differs from “The Brick” in that MEGABLOKS does not seek to
masquerade as the official LEGO brand, nor does MEGABLOKS produce bricks or
elements in violation of TLG’s patents (as has been borne out through numerous
court cases). In the past, however, MEGABLOKS packaging contained language
asserting compatibility with LEGO, but courts ruled that this caused potential
confusion for consumers, who might misread the statement as an endorsement by
TLG; LEGO is no longer mentioned on MEGABLOKS packaging.
I would also add that MEGABLOKS are of better quality than “The Brick,” and
MEGABLOKS seems truly to strive to be a competitive, compatible brand, rather
than a parasitic knock-off riding along on LEGO’s brand recognition.
Dave!
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Over 70 LEGO products copied
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| (...) I noticed this article last week, and it actually got me wondering... What does toy product "The Brick" do that LEGO finds offensive, exactly? What do they do that MegaBloks does not? >> Mark (20 years ago, 21-Jan-04, to lugnet.general)
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