Lego battles clones, online games as classic brick turns 60

FOR MORE than half a century, Lego’s colourful plastic bricks have been used to create buildings, cars, trains and planes and other imaginary worlds in playrooms across the world.

Pirates, princesses and space themes were later blended into the mix, following tie-ins and toy series based on blockbuster movies including Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter.

Meanwhile, clone products have appeared from rival firms and the Danish family-owned business has also had to contend with a boom in online gaming. Lego’s account books are no longer ticking along as they once were.

It all began almost 60 years ago on January 28, 1958. Former Lego managing director Godtfred Kirk Christiansen filed a patent for a small plastic block with two rows of four studs on the top and three tubes on the bottom and the iconic Lego brick was born.

The hidden tubes were the secret as to why his bricks held together and were more stable than many others. The technical patent expired after 20 years. These days, any company can copy Lego bricks and quite a few do.

Sluban, a company that has its European headquarters in the Netherlands but produces its toy bricks in China, makes products that fit with Lego bricks, but are much cheaper.

Similar strategies drive other firms such as Lepin and Lele. They even offer Lego-like theme worlds. The difference is that they don’t shy away from soldiers and tanks in the playroom, taboo designs for the Danes on ethical grounds.

Lego “can’t do anything” against the copies, Danish patent lawyer Thorbjorn Swanstrom explains. “The brick looks the way it does because it has function.”

For years, Lego has gone to court against imitators, often in vain, and Swanstrom says the Lego brick can no longer be protected.

“We all know: none of us likes competition. It is brilliant to have a monopoly.”

The clone designs are creeping into Lego’s main markets. At first, competitor products were only sold in Asia, then in Greece and Turkey.

“Now they are coming to Northern Europe,” said Swanstrom. Even in Lego’s home country a large toy chain recently offered clone blocks, shortly before Christmas.

In Germany, Lego continues to be the undisputed market leader. Its trade association for toys (BVS), said the Danish firm is the manufacturer with the highest turnover in the toy market – ahead of Ravensburger, Playmobil and Simba.

Lego copies have not appeared in the German statistics yet, says Willy Fischel, who heads the association. But, in Germany, Lego’s turnover fell by 2% from January to October according to BVS.

It’s part of a more general negative trend for Lego. During the first half of 2017, the firm’s sales and profits decreased by 3%- 5% compared with the same period last year. Recently, Lego said it would cut around 1 400 jobs worldwide, about 8% of its workforce.

“Fair competition is in our best interest. It keeps us sharp,” company spokesperson Roar Rude Trangbaek says. “We are competing for the children’s time. They can play with toys or digital devices.”

Lego has seen how the toy market is changing and is now investing in an online platform where children can download construction designs and share photos of their Lego models with others. It’s all about giving the product a “digital layer”. – dpa

PICTURE: AP Lego has been entertaining children for nearly half a century, but it is coming under threat from digital devices.