Subject:
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Re: KKK described latest restructuring as "last chance" for Lego in FT article
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Tue, 16 Mar 2004 23:56:56 GMT
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Viewed:
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790 times
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In lugnet.general, John Barnes wrote:
> TLG needs a better Lego police force. Here in upstate New York, my local
> North Utica Walmart has both Lego and megabloks sets on the shelves. The
> thing is, unlike a year ago, when there was a clear distinction between an
> aisle of Lego sets and another of megabloks, now they are on the same set of
> shelves. They are totally mixed up while the aisle remains decorated with
> the Lego logo. I have asked browsing parents what they are buying. They
> honestly reply that they are buying Lego, even as they hold a megabloks set.
> I think it is obvious what is wrong here. Lego "are" loosing their brand
> recognition. Something I know they have always been worried about. And
> they've persued the issue wrongly in my opinion going after Lego fans who
> use the Lego word on their websites while allowing Walmart to sell megabloks
> under their banner!!!!
First of all, they don't go after LEGO fans for simply using the word on their
website. They go after them for illegally using a trademarked word in their
domain name, and rightly so. Use of a trademark within the domain name implies
that the website is either official, or at least run by an officially sanctioned
partner. Young kids especially have a hard enough time figuring out which
websites are official and which are fan-operated as it is, without further
confusing the issue. Besides, they politely ask you to not violate trademark
law when they find out that you've done so. If you politely comply, that's as
far as it goes. If you insist on "standing up for your right", then, and only
then, will the TLC legal department cheerfully step in and proceed to
demonstrate for you just how few legal rights you have when it comes to using
someone else's trademark. The Fair Play policy is remarkably generous compared
to other similar situations (like when Paramount scoured every fan-operated Star
Trek website from the internet to make way for their pay-to-play official
website...which flopped).
> Why are there no Lego company reps prowling the aisles pulling the department
> managers up short for clear logo misuse????
They do have reps who stop off on a regular basis, but there is a limit to how
much they can saturate the market with roving employees. I live a few blocks
away from one of them, but I've still only bumped into her in the TRU and
Wal-Mart toy aisles at most half a dozen times. And much of her time there was
spent shuffling LEGO product around so all copies of the same set were located
together because noone else seems to care enough to do it at either of those
stores (Meijer is a different story altogether, as they've got at least one
severe work-a-holic employed in the local toy department). Also, when you're
talking about the level of business done between TLC and any of the big chain
stores, there's a limit to how much TLC can afford to push them in terms of
managing their own stores. If they push the wrong person just a bit too hard,
the matter could easily be settled by replacing all of the LEGO stock with clone
product.
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