Subject:
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Re: Castle Accesseries for Knight's Kingdom
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 13 Oct 2000 19:45:56 GMT
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Viewed:
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544 times
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Dave Schuler wrote:
> I understand also the "one fish/two fish--one LEGO/two LEGO" reasoning, but
> it can hardly be denied that the English language holds some precendent for
> pluralization by the addition of an "S". If a person refers to a single brick
> as a LEGO, I think the person can be forgiven for making the mistake,
> especially if he hasn't heard the TLC caution to the contrary.
This has nothing to due with the English language's rules for
pluralization. It's a legal issue of trademark dilution. By referring
to their products as LEGO bricks, LEGO building toys, etc., the Lego
Company is trying to avoid having their trademark turn into a generic
noun (for example, Kleenex, Band-Aid, etc. are brands of products whose
names have over time come to refer to any such product, rather than one
particular brand)
LEGO is trying to avoid having people call their plastic bricks "Legos"
because then people will be more inclined to call clone bricks by the
same name (Megablocks brand "Legos") leading to trademark dilution.
--
Tim Buchheim
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Castle Accesseries for Knight's Kingdom
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| (...) I'm not disputing that. In fact, one of the first points in my original post was a recognition of the possibility of product dilution. Nor am I asserting "Legos" as the correct form; I'm simply saying that, if a person identifies a single (...) (24 years ago, 13-Oct-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Castle Accesseries for Knight's Kingdom
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| (...) but (...) brick (...) Good general example, but bad specifics, both of these product names are still protected trademarks. Contrast cola and aspirin, lost by The Coca Cola Company, Inc. and Bayer Farben AG respectively, I believe. ++Lar (24 years ago, 14-Oct-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Castle Accesseries for Knight's Kingdom
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| (...) Fair enough, but this *is* a LEGO-based discussion group, and the demographic here might reasonably be expected to make a more thoughtful effort to adhere to the "correct" form. In my experience, though, this simply doesn't pan-out to the (...) (24 years ago, 13-Oct-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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