The Japan Times - Lego block: Dutch court rules mould maker can't use toy trademark

The top global toy maker in February dragged Betonblock BV, based in the northeast Dutch city of Heerhugowaard, to court for trademark infringement, saying it used the word "Lego" to advertise several of its products.

On Friday, "the judge ruled that Betonblock is taking unfair advantage of the use of the word 'Lego'," The Hague District Court said.

Judge Hans van Walderveen ordered Betonblock "to cease the infringement of the Lego trademarks within two working days," or face a penalty of 500 euros per day, to a maximum of 50,000 euros ($57,000).

Judges agreed with the Danish-based toy giant that Betonblock was "taking unfair advantage of the distinctive character and reputation of the Lego sign."

The Dutch company frequently referred to it when advertising its products, including on one webpage where the word "Lego" appeared 26 times.

Betonblock said in its submission the visible use of the word Lego was intended to help its website to appear as high as possible in search results.

The company said last year more than 13 percent of all clicks on its website came from searches in which the word "Lego" was combined with concrete-related terms, which generated an estimated turnover of 429,000 euros ($487,000).

The company makes high-end moulds, including for modular concrete blocks resembling those made as plastic children's toys.

It had tried to reach an amicable solution with Lego.

The judge said Betonblock was free to use the Lego trademarks descriptively.

"For example, if the company wanted to explain (once) that its moulds can be used to produce modular, stackable concrete blocks with studs, like the well-known Lego bricks," the court said in a statement.

"But there are limits to this. The excessive use of the word Lego as has been the case up to now is not in accordance with honest practices in industry and trade," it said.

Y.Kato--JT