Lego clone

The blocks were originally patented by The Lego Group in 1961 as "toy building bricks",[1] and the company has since remained dominant in this market.

[9] A similar decision was reached by the European Union's Court of First Instance on November 12, 2008, upholding an EU regulatory agency's reversal of opinion following an objection by Mega Bloks against a trademark awarded to Lego in 1999.

[10] Mega Bloks won a case at the EU's top court in 2010 against Lego's trademark registration of a red toy building brick.

On September 14, 2010, the European Court of Justice ruled that the 8-peg design of the original Lego brick "merely performs a technical function [and] cannot be registered as a trademark.

[6][14] The Lego Group did score a success in 2002, when its Swiss subsidiary Interlego AG sued the Tianjin CoCo Toy Co., Ltd. company for copyright infringement.

[18] In 2011, Lego sued Guangdong Jumbo Grand Plastic Moulding Industrial over its BanBao brand's copycat packaging.