The General Court of the CJEU has refused Lego’s appeal against the decision of the EUIPO to declare the design protection for one of its ‘blocks’ invalid. The initial invalidation action was brough in March 2021 by the Chinese Toy company, Guandong Qman Toys Industry Co. Ltd, and was made on the basis that the overall impression of the design for the 2×1 Clip Block was insufficiently different from the 1×1 Lego block design, to which the Invalidity Division agreed and declared the design invalid in 2022.
Lego appealed the decision. However, the Board of Appeal found that the main features of the design gave too similar of an impression to that of the 1×1 Lego piece. Lego then appealed this again, to the General Court on the basis that the EUIPO had not considered the view of the block from the top and the side in its decision. Lego claimed that from these angles, it was clear that the 2×1 block in question is rectangle, whereas the 1×1 is square, and that it has a different number of studs.
In its judgement last week, the General Court found that these differences were too insignificant in that they did not create a different overall impression to that of the 1×1 design and that the block had no individual character. Further, to Lego’s argument that the 2×1 block has a completely different design from its side angle, the Court said that the average user of the block would only consider the topside of the brick, as the underside is hidden when Lego bricks are assembled. As a result, Lego has been unsuccessful in having protection for the block reinstated with the EUIPO, despite their two appeals.
If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com
