Subject:
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Re: And I had to laugh!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:40:15 GMT
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Viewed:
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965 times
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In lugnet.general, Eric Harshbarger wrote:
>
> Hmmm... I think the "average consumer" (and collectors alike) need to
> realize the position that LEGO is in. Under American trademark law LEGO
> must make a continuing effort to distinguish it's trademark.
>
> The company is probably posting statements like the one mentioned here
> not because it is under any delusion that it will do any good, but
> because if they don't... legally, it could hurt them.
>
> If, in court, it it can be shown that a company is not aggressively
> protecting their trademark, then there is a chance they can lose that
> trademark.
>
> This is what happened to the word "aspirin", which used to be a
> trademark of the Bayer company.
>
> Companies like Kleenex, Xerox, FedEx, and Scrabble all make similar
> official statements (officially it's "Kleenex brand tissues" and
> "Scrabble brand crossword game", and the other companies loathe making
> verbs out of "Xerox" and "FedEx"). Every company from Coca-cola to
> Google has similar policies (which they at least remind their employees
> of, if not their customers).
>
> If LEGO did not defend its mark, then, theoretically, a clone company
> could argue that "LEGO" is a generic term and the phrase "Megabloks
> LEGOs" is fair game...
>
> Legally, anyone who says "LEGOs" is enforcing that generic mentality
> (again, legally... not necessarily realistically).
>
> Yes, it may all seem silly, but I hardly think it's an overbearing
> request of the LEGO company. And it's not like they're threatening
> anyone. They're just asking. Politely. And matter-of-factly.
>
> If people want to gripe about this issue, they should direct their
> criticisms toward U.S. law, not the companies that have to operate
> within its constraints.
>
> My $.02,
>
> Eric Harshbarger
Well stated Eric,
For me "LEGOS" is like fingernails on a chalkboard. I always find myself
correcting folks (politely), by telling them that they are "moiderin' the King's
English". Same thing when people use "monies" incorrectly.
Gary Istok
P.S. Recent sighting of a "Pork is not a Verb" bumper sticker.... :-p
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: And I had to laugh!
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| (...) Well, in the LEGO motherlanguage, Danish, we don't say neither LEGOs nor LEGOer. The normal way in Danish of referring to LEGO in plural is indeed "LEGO klodser", meaning "LEGO bricks". But if you think of the word LEGO as a Latin word instead (...) (19 years ago, 12-Sep-05, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: And I had to laugh!
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| Hmmm... I think the "average consumer" (and collectors alike) need to realize the position that LEGO is in. Under American trademark law LEGO must make a continuing effort to distinguish it's trademark. The company is probably posting statements (...) (19 years ago, 9-Sep-05, to lugnet.general)
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