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 General / 48117
48116  |  48118
Subject: 
Re: 2004 Alpha Team: The Good, the Bad, and the Jack Stone
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general
Date: 
Wed, 16 Jun 2004 18:11:35 GMT
Viewed: 
1433 times
  
In lugnet.general, Dave Schuler wrote:
I don't know that the patent is at issue here; MEGABLOKS has its own range of
hinge elements, none of which matches the classic LEGO finger hinge design.

Are you sure about that?  They may not be the exact same parts, but
the hinge fingers sure look like a match.  I'll have to test it though.
I'd bet Lego has a patent on the new click hinge finger design, in
addition to any patents on the hinged parts themselves.

I think Mr. Wilson hit it on the head in this post:
http://news.lugnet.com/general/?n=48114
Perceived playability is probably the lead motivating factor.

No way.  Anyone who's seen the look on a childs face when the canopy
detaches instead of opening, or a door doesn't close all the way
because the clicker is slightly off knows this isn't true.  This is
an IP issue all the way.  Search the patent office for interlego and
hinge and you'll see they were fairly busy around 1998.  Perhaps when
the original hinge patents from the late 70's were expiring?

It's really too bad this isn't just a playability issue.  Then we
might get both types of hinges for situations where they work best.

Enjoy,

Don



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: 2004 Alpha Team: The Good, the Bad, and the Jack Stone
 
(...) Oops. Perhaps my wording was vague, but you're correct. The fingers are indeed compatible, though the bricks/plates themselves are not overly similar. I would guess that they're not sufficiently idential to be in danger of patent infringement. (...) (20 years ago, 16-Jun-04, to lugnet.general)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: 2004 Alpha Team: The Good, the Bad, and the Jack Stone
 
(...) I completely agree with this point, The various click-hinges were cool when I first got them in the 1999 X-Wing set, but they spread like kudzu to overtake every hinge application under the sun! They're versatile, yes, and they have the nice (...) (20 years ago, 16-Jun-04, to lugnet.general)

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