Subject:
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Re: LEGO® Launches Battle Over Trademark
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.mediawatch
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Date:
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Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:41:25 GMT
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Viewed:
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13257 times
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Dave Schuler wrote:
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In lugnet.mediawatch, David Eaton wrote:
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The tragedy would be if they were expressly allowed to maintain a monopoly.
If some other company can do a better job, they should be allowed to do so.
That’s capitalism, as immoral as it may be at times.
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That’s a great point, Dave, and it brings to mind two related issues:
1. Competition. I wonder what path LEGO would have chosen in the mid-90s if
they didn’t have a significant market competitor to deal with. Mega Bloks
was just starting to reach its stride when LEGO was mired in juniorization,
clothing lines, and dubious software ventures. A good many of Mega Bloks’
sets, in fact, were basically bulk-brick delivery systems, while LEGO was
still moving into its “some assembly required” phase. Sure, the LEGO
pendulum has swung very nicely back toward cool designs that require actual
building, but it was touch-and-go there for a while. I’m also quite sure
that Star Wars gave LEGO a big boost, but I don’t believe that it was
sufficient in itself to turn LEGO away from the juniorization Dark Side.
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I would concede that point to you, Dave! But, in the future, please try to
refrain from ending sentences with prepositions. It’s embarrassing.
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2. I would characterize Mega Bloks, Best-Lock, and K’NEX as legitimate
competitors in the LEGO-compatible construction business, because each has
staked out its own section of the marketplace, and each produces sets that
are distinct from anything that LEGO has ever put out. But there are many
questionable brands that routinely defy patents and intellectual property
rights, copying LEGO sets outright and even copying current or recent Mega
Bloks sets (“cloning the clones,” as Larry Marak has coined it). These
latter brands are acting unethically and (in some cases) illegally, and they
contribute to the overall negative opinion of “clone” brands.
Competition is key to protect us from the likes of Galidor, but legal
standards must still be maintained so that proprietary rights aren’t
violated.
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Well put, Dave!
JOHN
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: LEGO® Launches Battle Over Trademark
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| (...) "This is the sort of language up with which I will not put." -Winston Churchill The false idea that you can't end a sentance with a preposition in English comes from the fact that you literally can't in Latin. You shouldn't just tack a (...) (15 years ago, 22-Nov-09, to lugnet.mediawatch, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: LEGO® Launches Battle Over Trademark
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| (...) That's a great point, Dave, and it brings to mind two related issues: 1. Competition. I wonder what path LEGO would have chosen in the mid-90s if they didn't have a significant market competitor to deal with. Mega Bloks was just starting to (...) (15 years ago, 19-Nov-09, to lugnet.mediawatch, FTX)
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