 | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| (...) There may be another variable at play in those northern European cases; as far as I'm aware, LEGO maintains a de facto stranglehold on many of the markets there, so competitor brands are denied entry altogether. It seems that LEGO has secured (...) (19 years ago, 11-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
| | | | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| (...) It's a little misleading to say their arguments have 'failed' - the same arguments that got shot down in Mega Bloks' Canadian home court are still doing just fine in the courts of northern Europe. I think the big loss in Germany is going to be (...) (19 years ago, 10-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
| | | | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| (...) That's an interesting argument--do you have a citation? I ask because I believe that the patent on the minifig design has expired, and previous arguments by LEGO re: the "trademark" status of their pieces have failed. The majority of rulings (...) (19 years ago, 10-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
| | | | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| (...) It's about trademark rather than copyright - the minifig is legally recognized to represent the Lego company, it's not just one of their designs or intellectual properties. From a legal standpoint, using the minifig is equivalent to using the (...) (19 years ago, 10-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
| | | | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| (...) (URL) Here's> a shot of three minifigs from the Just Kidz line of Cobi/Best-Lock stuff. And (URL) here's> a reverse angle of the guy on the far left. As you'll see, the leg-holes are square, in what I think is an inferior design; it takes more (...) (19 years ago, 3-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
| | | | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| (...) Whoa, that was a blast from the past! I had only been online for the first time a couple of months before that thread.... What an experience the WWW was as a newbie. And now 9 years have past. </nostalgicpine> FUT OT.OT;-) JOHN (19 years ago, 3-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
| | | | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| (...) Old Timers may recall the flap back in '99 over the (URL) LEGODEATH> image originally crafted by "Froggy." A brief (400+ post) thread on RTL can be read (URL), if you're interested. I can't remember what became of that whole issue, but clearly (...) (19 years ago, 3-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
| | | | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| (...) Hm. I was under the impression that even just the *image* of a minifig was un-marketable thanks to copyright. I seem to recall that Mike Rayhawk was prevented from selling his BrikWars artwork for that reason (although I don't think he ever (...) (19 years ago, 2-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
| | | | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| (...) I'm not sure, to be honest. Cobi has existed for some time in Europe (based in Poland) but has only become available in the US very recently, in the wake of the Cobi/Best-Lock merger. Over at (URL) The Bloks Forum> we've been discussing this (...) (19 years ago, 2-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
| | | | | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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| In lugnet.pirates, Dave Schuler wrote: But check out the (...) Wow. I admit I haven't been following Best-Lock at all, but isn't this insanely close to copyright violation for the "likeness" of the minifig? Have their figs always been so (...) (19 years ago, 2-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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