LEGO has won intellectual property lawsuit in China

On 5 November Danish LEGO won a lawsuit against four Chinese companies who infringed multiple copyrights of LEGO and conducted acts of unfair competition by producing and distributing building sets similar to the LEGO products.

Photo: LEGO

The Guangzhou Yuexiu District Court ordered, among other things, that the four defendants shall immediately cease producing, selling, exhibiting or in any way promoting the infringing products. They shall also pay the LEGO Group approximately RMB 4.5 million as damages, according to LEGO.

“We welcome the court’s ruling. 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. It also shows the authorities’ commitment to creating a fair business environment for all companies operating in China,” said Niels B. Christiansen, Chief Executive Officer of the LEGO Group.

In October 2017, the LEGO Group won a case at Shantou Intermediate Court against BELA, a Chinese toy manufacturer, for infringing the copyrights of the LEGO Group and for unfair competition. In another case decided earlier in July 2017, the LEGO logo and the LEGO word mark were recognized by the Beijing Higher Court as “well-known” trademarks in China.

The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen with headquarters in Billund, Denmark. It has main offices in Enfield, USA, London, UK, Shanghai, China, and Singapore.

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