"'Like Lego...' Expression Not Allowed"… Lego Sues Concrete Block Company

Defendant Company Manufactures Barricades for Anti-Terrorism
Promotional Phrase Used: "Can Be Stacked Like Lego"

The global toy company Lego has filed a lawsuit against a barricade manufacturer using a method similar to the toy blocks it produces.

On the 30th (local time), the British daily The Times reported that the Danish company Lego is engaged in a legal battle with the Dutch company 'Betonblok.'

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Betonblok is a company that manufactures concrete blocks stacked vertically in a manner similar to Lego and sells them as anti-terrorism barricades. The defendant, Betonblok, promoted its concrete blocks on its website with the phrase "has studs like Lego, making it easy to stack." In response, the plaintiff Lego claimed that the use of the Lego name in promoting anti-terrorism blocks caused damage to its brand.

Lego, the world's largest toy company by sales, has shown sensitivity to protecting intellectual property rights. Last year, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in favor of Lego in a lawsuit against a German hardware company asserting intellectual property rights. In the six-year-long lawsuit, the German company argued that Lego's brick design could not be protected as a design, but the court ruled that the visual characteristics of Lego blocks should be protected as a design.

Regarding this lawsuit, the defendant Betonblok denies any damage to Lego caused by the products they sell. A Betonblok representative retorted, "Would any parent buy a 2,500 kg concrete block for an eight-year-old child who wants a Lego block as a gift?" and claimed, "The phrase 'Lego block' is a commonly used expression in the construction industry."

The concrete blocks made by Betonblok are products designed to create defensive walls that can be easily installed and dismantled around areas at risk of vehicle-ramming attacks. These concrete blocks have also been released in Germany under the product name 'Nice barriers.' In Nice, France, a major terror attack occurred in 2016 when a truck rammed into a crowd watching fireworks, killing 86 people.