MediaWatch : 1541


MediaWatch / 1541	1540 \| 1542

Subject:	Re: Trademark defense doesn't work vs Mega Bloks
Newsgroups:	lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general
Date:	Wed, 4 Aug 2004 20:36:44 GMT
Viewed:	2481 times

In lugnet.mediawatch, David Laswell wrote:

I was interested, though, to hear that the original LEGO brick design was borrowed from someone else. Still, the tubes inside the 2x4 brick were a LEGO-patented design, and that’s probably the design that’s used by clone companies. Then again, the top of the LEGO brick is what people remember, not the inside. You could probably snap a photo of the bottom and cut the recognition factor by at least half.

Goodness. I can think of close to a dozen brands that use some variation of the tubes-and-studs clutch system, so recognition could definitely be a problem!

This item has been mentioned previously on LUGNET, but it seems relevant to bring it up again. The article points out that LEGO allowed the patent on the 2x4 brick, (presumably including the tube/stud system) to expire in 1978, so they opened the door for imitators. I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t have renewed the patent, but now they’re reaping what they’ve sown.

Dave!

Message has 2 Replies:

		Re: Trademark defense doesn't work vs Mega Bloks
(...) Uh-- did they really 'allow' it to expire? I was under the impression that the patent lasted 20 years, then 'tough noogies'. 1958 was the patent year for the stud-and-tube system, so 1978 would fit the bill... I was interested to see some of (...) (20 years ago, 4-Aug-04, to lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general)

		Re: Trademark defense doesn't work vs Mega Bloks
(...) Well, TLC certainly seems to agree, which is why they've been fighting tooth-and-nail to make everyone else stop making clone bricks. (...) Patents expire, whether you want them to or not. The idea is that you can patent something that you (...) (20 years ago, 4-Aug-04, to lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general, FTX)

Message is in Reply To:

		Re: Trademark defense doesn't work vs Mega Bloks
(...) Impartial? Well, sort of, but not in the way that you seem to think. It's called PRNewswire. PR, as in Press Release or Press Relations. This appears to be a website where various corporations can upload their press releases for various news (...) (20 years ago, 4-Aug-04, to lugnet.mediawatch, lugnet.general, FTX)

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