The Danish toymaker prevailed for the second time over a German competitor that claims Lego’s iconic brick design cannot be trademarked.
The European Union’s second-highest court ruled in favor of Danish toymaker Lego for the second time in a trademark dispute over its iconic bricks on Wednesday.
German toy manufacturer Delta Sport Handelskontor failed to show the plastic building blocks don’t meet the criteria for protection, the European General Court held, upholding a decision from the EU Intellectual Property Office.
In 2016, Delta Sport contested the design mark and convinced the intellectual property office to scrap the protection. The General Court overturned that decision in 2021, finding the patent office failed to take into account all of the features of a Lego brick.
In light of the court’s ruling, the patent office scrapped its earlier decision and upheld the 2010 trademark. In 2022, Delta Sport appealed that move, arguing that since the patent office found that some parts of the bricks didn’t qualify for protection, the entire trademark should be dropped.
Judges at the Luxembourg-based court disagreed, finding that only some parts of a product needed to meet the criteria to qualify for a trademark. “If at least one of its characteristics is protected … the design remains valid,” the three-judge panel wrote.
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https://www.courthousenews.com/eu-court-blocks-loss-of-lego-trademark/
