Timeline for answer to Is Nanoblock not in violation of LEGO's patents because their product is incompatible with and not the same size as LEGO's product? by PMF
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| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 2, 2022 at 15:44 | comment | added | PMF | @terdon Good question. I guess it will be similar. Which such statements (either way) touch trademark rights will have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, with an unknown outcome. | |
| Dec 2, 2022 at 11:38 | comment | added | terdon | Does the inverse also apply? Could you get in trouble for stating that your bricks are not compatible with LEGO on the basis that you are mentioning LEGO? | |
| Dec 2, 2022 at 10:06 | comment | added | j4nd3r53n | Reminds me - I think I saw, years ago, boxes of these plastic building blocks with the brand '0937' in a slightly squarish font, which just happened to look exactly like LEGO when turned upside down. | |
| Dec 2, 2022 at 8:55 | comment | added | PMF | @MSalters That's what I'm saying. Lego won't be able to request new patents just for new bricks. They must show innovation. There was recently a story in the news that said they are looking for alternative materials to use for their bricks (for environmental reasons). Something like this may qualify, but not just a new form. | |
| Dec 2, 2022 at 8:34 | comment | added | MSalters | @PMF: You typically can't just grab a design patent for every new brick you design. It's simply not distinct enough for that. And a utility patent? You need to show innovation | |
| Dec 1, 2022 at 14:46 | comment | added | Stack Exchange Broke The Law | @ScottishTapWater I'm fairly sure "compatible with Lego" is nominative use, but I'm not a lawyer. | |
| Dec 1, 2022 at 8:12 | comment | added | PMF | @user71659 Yes, there are attempts to do that, but is is contested. It's probably not possible to gain a patent for each type of new brick (because it's meanwhile a common knowledge that Legos consist of a large number of shapes and colors). The construction of a new shape is just a technical job, not really art (to gain trademark and/or copyright status) or an invention any more. | |
| Dec 1, 2022 at 6:34 | comment | added | user71659 | That statement is overly broad because Lego can and does make new products and styles of bricks, which would then could be protected by utility and/or design patents. It's more like, one cannot violate the patents on Lego bricks that are older than circa 20 years (in the US), which includes the original basic bricks. | |
| Dec 1, 2022 at 5:21 | comment | added | Nelson | In a way, trademark law forces very popular companies to defend their name or they will risk losing them (Kleenex, Xerox, Thermos). | |
| Dec 1, 2022 at 3:23 | comment | added | Andrew T. | The trademark protection is really serious that even our sister site had to change its name. | |
| Dec 1, 2022 at 2:29 | comment | added | KRyan | “Building bricks derived from a system provided by a Prominent North European Modular Brick Vendor.” | |
| Dec 1, 2022 at 2:25 | comment | added | Stephen Quan | Our big local retailer stocks "1000 Piece Construction Blocks Set". As you said, the product appears to be lego-compatible and it does its best to avoid problems by not using the name "Lego" anywhere. | |
| Dec 1, 2022 at 1:39 | comment | added | ScottishTapWater | "Compatible with a popular danish brand of plastic bricks" | |
| Dec 1, 2022 at 0:07 | vote | accept | pacoverflow | ||
| Nov 30, 2022 at 16:02 | history | answered | PMF | CC BY-SA 4.0 |