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In lugnet.mediawatch, Abner Finley wrote:
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LEGO® Group wins lawsuit in Finland
May 4, 2005
Main link with pictures The LEGO Group has recently won a court action in the
Finnish Market Court against Biltema Suomi Oy, a sales company. The action
concerned Biltema’s sale and marketing of copies of LEGO products under the
Coko trademark.
The judgment prohibits Biltema Finland from marketing and selling copy
products which are identical or very similar to LEGO bricks unless the very
appearance of those copies is changed to distinguish them from the LEGO
bricks, and Biltema was ordered to compensate the legal costs of the LEGO
Group. A possible claim for compensation may be filed in a local District
Court. So this point still remains to be settled.
As a result of the Market Court judgment, Biltema is not permitted to sell
Coko bricks in Finland unless they are modified so that they can no longer be
mistaken for LEGO bricks The judgment extends, for all practical purposes, to
a sales ban.. The Market Court also found that Biltema had abused the
goodwill of the LEGO Group while creating the risk of confusion on the
commercial origin in respect of the Coko products, the quality of which was
considered inferior to that of the original LEGO products.
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**snip**
This is great news! A bootleg clone brand on the market cheapens the very
notion of legitimate and compatible building bricks. I’m pleased that LEGO has
won against Biltema and, by extension, Coko in yet another ruling.
The issue, as usual, is that Coko has in effect stolen the patented designs and
copyrighted intellectual property of LEGO, rather than reproducing the
interlocking system for which the patent has expired, as legitimate competitor
brands do.
Congratulations, LEGO. Every victory of this kind is a victory for all fans of
brick-based construction toys.
Dave!
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