After years of dispute, the EU’s General Court has ruled in favor of Danish toy giant Lego, deciding its bricks are protected by patent.
Delta Sport Handelskontor, a company that manufactures toys, had asked the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to revoke protection of a flat brick with four studs in the middle, which Lego registered as protected in 2010.
The EUIPO initially annulled the protection for a Lego brick in 2019.
But Wednesday’s decision came after the General Court then annulled EUIPO’s decision in 2021, which led to a new decision by EUIPO rejecting Delta Sport Handelskontor’s application. The German company appealed back to the General Court, but on Wednesday the legal chamber dismissed that action, according to a press release from the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The Court dismissed the case because Delta Sport Handelskontor has not presented evidence that the particular “Lego toy brick does not meet certain conditions required in order to benefit from the exception protecting modular systems, namely novelty and individual character.”
Delta Sport Handelskontor can still appeal to the European Court of Justice, the EU’s top court, against the recent ruling.