The Lego Group is a family-owned company based in Billund, Denmark, and best known for the manufacture of Lego brand toys.The company was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen. The word Lego is derived from the Danish words "leg godt", meaning "play well." The word "lego" can also be interpreted to mean "I gather together" in Latin, and "I connect" in Italian.Since the expiration of the last standing Lego patent in 1988, a number of companies have produced interlocking bricks that are similar to Lego bricks. The toy company Tyco Toysproduced such bricks for a time; other competitors include Mega Bloks and Coko. These competitor products are typically compatible with Lego bricks, and are marketed at a lower cost than Lego sets.One such competitor is Coko, manufactured by Chinese company Tianjin Coko Toy Co., Ltd. In 2002, Lego Group Swiss subsidiary Interlego AG sued the company for copyright infringement. A trial court found many Coko bricks to be infringing; Coko was ordered to cease manufacture of the infringing bricks, publish a formal apology in the Beijing Daily, and pay a small fee in damages to Interlego. On appeal, the Beijing High People's Court upheld the trial court's ruling.In 2003, The Lego Group won a lawsuit in Norway against the marketing group Biltema for its sale of Coko products, on the grounds that the company used product confusion for marketing purposes.Also in 2003, a large shipment of Lego-like products marketed under the name "Enlighten" was seized by Finland customs authorities. The packaging of the Enlighten products was similar to official Lego packaging. Their Chinese manufacturer failed to appear in court, and thus Lego won a default action ordering the destruction of the shipment. Lego Group footed the bill for the disposal of the 54,000 sets, citing a desire to avoid brand confusion and protect consumers from potentially inferior products.In 2004 Best-Lock Construction Toys defeated a patent challenge from Lego in the Oberlandesgericht, Hamburg.The Lego Group has attempted to trademark the "Lego Indicia", the studded appearance of the Lego brick, hoping to stop production of Mega Bloks. On 24 May 2002, the Federal Court of Canada dismissed the case, asserting the design is functional and therefore ineligible for trademark protection. The Lego Group's appeal was dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal on 14 July 2003. In October 2005, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that "Trademark law should not be used to perpetuate monopoly rights enjoyed under now-expired patents." and held that Mega Bloks can continue to manufacture their bricks.Because of fierce competition from copycat products, the company has always responded by being proactive in their patenting and has over 600 United States granted design patents to their name.
Net income EUR 730 million (2011)