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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 (...) (18 years ago, 2-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | 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 (...) (18 years ago, 3-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | 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 (18 years ago, 3-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | 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 (...) (18 years ago, 10-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | 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 (...) (18 years ago, 10-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | 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 (...) (18 years ago, 10-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | 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 (...) (18 years ago, 11-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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(...) I believe that the major similarity is scale. More on this below. <snip> (...) Surely you are not implying that it is just as easy to distinuish a red Mega Bloks 2x4 brick from a red LEGO 2x4 brick as it is a Honda from a Harley! (...) I don't (...) (18 years ago, 11-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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I'm heading off on a business trip in the morning, so I can only give this a real brief reply - (meaning it'll be just as long but I'll have put less thought into it -) (...) I have no objection to clone brands using the same metrics, especially (...) (18 years ago, 11-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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(...) Not sure when you mean--can you be more specific? I have Mega Bloks catalogs dating back to 1993, and they've never struck me as deceptively similar, except insofar as they feature pictures of the various sets arranged in a large display (...) (18 years ago, 16-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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(...) These sound like MB (URL) Command Ops> (Military) and Dragons (Fantasy) figs to me. I haven't seen studs on Bestlock figs' backs either. And I would heartily agree that Command Ops was just made for BrikWars. And and I can't say 'BrikWars' in (...) (18 years ago, 17-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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(...) I want so badly for this not to be true, because it would mean I've been thinking of the wrong minifig this whole time, but I just dug around in my clone bins and I think you're right. I've got Best-Lock and military sets so connected in my (...) (18 years ago, 18-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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(...) For myself, I really dislike the scuplted figures for a few reasons: 1. They just seem over accentuated - they remind me of Games Workshop paint jobs (though I'll grant they use more subdued colors that GW uses). 2. They keep changing the (...) (18 years ago, 19-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands)
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| | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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(...) Like any overdesigned element, it's just a matter of finding good uses for them I find that Mega Bloks minifig parts fit in just fine if you mix them up well enough with Lego minifig elements. I love using this torso for instance: (URL) I (...) (18 years ago, 20-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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| | Re: Cobi/Best-Lock
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A further note on the difference between Just-Kidz minifigs and Cobi/Best Lock minis (both made by C/block) the company apparently bought molds from multiple sources when making their switch from old scale to Lego metrics after their court victory (...) (18 years ago, 22-Jan-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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