LEGO wins another legal battle

TLG could aquire that company now. What does this mean for us then?

"What does this mean for us then?" It looks like Best-Lock were hoping to produce minifigures that (very) closely resembled Lego - that looks very unlikely now. And of course will put off other companies from doing something similar.

Quite interesting actually if you read the judgement. Best-Lock were arguing that the shape/design was techinical and therefore invalid. A bit like trying to trademark an I-beam - it's an "I" shape for technical, not aesthetic, reasons. Had they proved the minifigure shape was for technical reasons (so that it can connect with the rest of the Lego universe etc., the trademark would be invalid and it would open the market to competitors.

I am not a lawyer though...

This is great, right?

It is great for LEGO but leaves AFOLs and artists unable to use the minifig in any creative way. No more minifig t-shirts or artworks of any kind without permission.

@Lordmoral: LEGO has never expressed any interest in acquiring other toy companies, and have often been pretty adamant about NOT doing that. More likely than not they'll just demand that Best-Lock come up with a new figure design.

@mrfresh: I'm not a lawyer either but I think you summed it up pretty well.

@tedward: Really that's been the case since the trademark was registered in 2000. Nothing has changed in that regard. Really, what I'd like LEGO to do is partner with a site like WeLoveFine.com so that artists have a way to sell their wares as officially licensed products.

It's also worth noting that LEGO generally has no interest in pursuing litigation against small-scale customizers, just against companies they view as potential competitors or companies that they think hurt the reputation of the LEGO brand (for instance, if you as an independent artist produced and sold shirts with a swastika superimposed over the LEGO logo, the LEGO Group would have a vested interest in shutting you down). Some LEGO designers even wear non-licensed T-shirts based on things like the classic Space logo.

The minifigure shape is synonymous with Lego, just as the Golden Arches with McDonalds, swoosh with Nike etc. etc.

Excellent verdict

I think the point is, if it was "technical" then patent rules apply, and patents eventually expire and become public domain, as happened with the standard brick. But if it is esthetic then it is a trademark. And trademarks remain in force in perpetuity so long as the owner properly enforces them.

I still want to know how Oyo gets around it. Is it because they added bendable elbows and knees to the minifigures, therefore changing the Lego design just enough?

Excellent.

Lordmoral, why would TLG want to acquire a substandard competitior? Their factories would be small and useless compared to TLG's, their staff are untrustworthy and untalented and they have no IP. It would only be a band-aid solution and would encourage more people to start producing counterfeit bricks just so they could be bought out by TLG.

@Huey1
Bragging rights.

The Best-Lock minifigs have noses which protrude from the face along with many other diferences to a TLG minifig.
However they are pretty much rubbish. Best-lock should be ashamed by their quality.
As a company listed in the UK and therefore under proper legal regulation they were an easy target for TLG.
This was probably the main reason TLG went after them.
Now the precedent is set, TLG have more chance of winning other cases in less well regulated markets.
Watch out Character Building/COBI, Oxford, etc.

I wonder how much it's been helping LEGO to sell minifigures separate from sets--keychains, the collectible series, battlepacks, magnets, etc. By establishing minifigs' standalone identity, I'd think it certainly bolsters the argument that they're not mere technical elements of a LEGO set.

Also, you wouldn't acquire a clone brand, you would try to shut it down. Otherwise, there's clear incentive for other fly-by-night companies to make their own clone brand in the hope of profiting from its eventual sale to LEGO. There's a difference between acquiring a legitimate competitor and acquiring a knock-off.

@Venunder - TLG did not "go after" Best-Lock. They were defending their own intellectual property, which Best-Lock were trying to invalidate.

Yay! LEGO has in the past lost this sort of thing, so I'm happy. Now what happened to the minidoll issue?

Also TLG has won yesterday legal battle with Czech Pirates political party who used Minifigs for their youtube spot. The party is required to post an apology to TLG on their website for 6 months and pay legal fees (1728€ :) ). There is nothing yet on Pirates´website though... www.pirati.cz

I've stopped buying minifigures from eBay. Too many sellers selling fake minifigures with a free genuine LEGO brick so that they can use the word 'LEGO' in the listing title to accumulate search hits but circumnavigate eBay's listing policies regarding counterfeit products. Such listings should be removed by default

^ I've found those listings pretty easy to spot. I have bought hundreds of minifigures on eBay and will continue to do so for as long as someone offers what I want at a readonable price. Not received a fake yet.

Bestlock's arguments were just ridiculous. There's way too many examples of "minifigures" using absurdly different designs from Lego's and still being combined with brick building. If Megabloks can compete without using the minifigure design that's dull. And Lego friends (although still very sexist to gender-segregate sets like that) shows that even within Lego's own themes the minifigure shape is aesthetic choice and not only functional.