There are few toys as recognizable as the LEGO brick. The tiny plastic brick is the LEGO Group’s “most important product.”1 Although LEGO products have undergone extensive development since the launch of the traditional LEGO brick in 1958, the foundation has remained the same. LEGO has twice been named “Toy of the Century.”2 In 1999, the brick was named as one of the “Products of the Century” by Fortune Magazine.3 It has spawned licensing deals with well-known franchises such as Star Wars, Lego-themed television shows, theme parks, videogames, and the 2014 box office hit, The LEGO Movie.
Given the success of the LEGO brick, the LEGO Group has, not surprisingly, sought and obtained patents to protect its foundational brick technology. LEGO’s early U.S. patents issued in the 1960s and claimed variations of the famous toy brick.4 Over the years, LEGO’s early brick patents expired, opening the market to competitors to sell “similar if not identical products.”5 Many of these competitors, such as Canadian company Mega Bloks, make lower cost products that are compatible with LEGO bricks. For example, Mega Bloks initially had developed and marketed large-size (i.e., “mega”) building blocks, but “after the expiry of the last LEGO patents in Canada, it decided to use the traditional LEGO technology” and has since become a significant global competitor to LEGO.6 As a result, LEGO has sought to protect its valuable bricks using a variety of intellectual property.
