Lego in win over copycats

Copenhagen – Lego has won another case against imitators in China where copies of its colourful plastic toy bricks and figures have been a recurrent problem, the Danish toymaker said.

In a landmark case last year, Lego for the first time succeeded in a copyright competition case in China, where it seeks a bigger slice of a $31 billion (about R440 billion) toys and games market.

“We believe these decisions are well-founded in the facts and the law and clearly demonstrate the continued efforts of Chinese authorities to protect intellectual property,” Lego chief executive Niels B Christiansen said in a statement.

The Guangzhou Yuexiu District Court ruled that four companies had “infringed multiple copyrights of the Lego Group and conducted acts of unfair competition by producing and distributing Lepin building sets”, Lego said.

The court ordered that the companies immediately cease “producing, selling, exhibiting or in any way promoting the infringing products”, it said.

Furthermore, Lego will receive around 4.5 million Chinese yuan (about R9.2 million) in damages.

Last year, the Beijing Higher Court passed a ruling that recognised the Lego logo and name in Chinese as “well-known” trademarks in China, putting the toymaker in a better position to act against infringement of its trademarks. – Reuters