Mega Brands Inc. has won a trademark claim in Europe filed by Danish toymaker Lego.
The European Court of First Instance on Wednesday rejected Lego’s efforts to preserve a trademark on its construction toy.
Lego had appealed a 2006 ruling that its bricks can’t be legally protected by trademark law. The latest ruling can be appealed to the European Court of Justice.
The court agreed with Montreal-based Mega Brands that the plastic building blocks, with two rows of interlocking studs, are a functional, technical shape that cannot become the property of any one company.
Mega Brands said it was thrilled by the decision supporting its largest brand, Mega Bloks, which also use rows of raised knobs to hold the bricks together.
“It’s not only a victory for us, but it’s a victory for all the consumers around the world that have made the Mega Bloks brand the number one pre-school building block,” said spokesman Harold Chizick.
The case dates back to 1999, when Lego won an EU trademark that was overturned five years later on appeal by Mega Brands.
Chizick said the company has prevailed in about 15 cases launched by Lego around the world, including one in Canada.
The plastic blocks were the first toy manufactured by Mega Brands in 1984. The design was the basis of other construction toys, in which characters and objects attach to the blocks.
Lego modelled its bricks on blocks invented and patented in 1939 by Harry Fisher Page, founder of Britain’s Kiddicraft. Lego patented its design in 1958.
Although those patents have expired, Lego shifted its legal approach toward trademark and copyright laws in an effort to protect its products.
