Cartoon stick figure pointing at a chalkboard with “Lego” written in large chalk letters — representing a blog post about the Lego word mark trademark registration.

Trademark: Lego

First Used: 1934

First Registered: 1975

Current Owner: LEGO HOLDING A/S [1]

Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark

Primarily Associated With: construction toys; toy construction blocks and connecting links therefor; toy construction kits; toy figures; and more [2]

Generic Phrase: building blocks, as in LEGO® brand building blocks

Also A Trademark For: books, storage cases, storage bags, and t-shirts [3]; computer programs and peripherals [4]; entertainment services and retail ordering services [5]; child care centers [6]; computer game software [7]; on-line fan club services for users of construction toys [8]; educational resources for teachers and educators [9]; and flashlights, watches, lunch bags, notebooks, backpacks, plastic key chains, bed linens, headwear and footwear, and protective carrying cases [10]

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [11]:

LEGO® is a brand that can evoke strong emotions, from the joys of finishing a new set to the pain of accidentally stepping on a brick. Today, LEGO is one of the most famous brands in the world, and LEGO brand building blocks have been used to recreate everything from monuments like the Eiffel Tower, to sci-fi ships like the Star Wars Death Star or real-life ships like the Titanic, to famous paintings like the Mona Lisa.

As magnificent as LEGO construction sets can be, LEGO’s trademark portfolio may be equally impressive, ranging from traditional trademark registrations that protect the LEGO brand name and logos, to non-traditional trademark registrations that protect features of LEGO bricks and LEGO minifigures. Today, let’s take a look at the LEGO brand!

In 1932, Ole Kirk Kristiansen began making wooden toys in Billund, Denmark, pivoting from carpentry as the Great Depression squeezed demand. A few years later he chose the name LEGO, from the Danish phrase “leg godt,” meaning “play well.”

After World War II, LEGO leaned hard into plastic as it became increasingly difficult to source beechwood of the right quality for toys. In 1947, the company brought in its first plastic injection-molding machine and began studying plastic toy designs from other makers, including the British Kiddicraft “self-locking” bricks. After a period of experimenting, LEGO introduced its early plastic bricks in 1949 under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks,” which was quickly dropped a few years later in favor of “LEGO bricks.”

Then came the improvement that made the modern LEGO brick feel like magic: the stud-and-tube solution. On January 28, 1958, LEGO submitted a patent application for “a toy building element,” which is basically the moment the modern brick clicked into place, literally and otherwise. From there, LEGO’s whole system became a precision game: consistent dimensions, modular design, and endless recombination. And because LEGO never met an “expand the universe” opportunity it didn’t like, it eventually spun the same building logic into experiences like LEGO TECHNIC® [12] (for builders who want gears and mechanics) and LEGOLAND® [13], with the original park opening in Billund in 1968.

Have you always been curious what the biggest LEGO® sets are? We got you. The LEGO® Art World Map holds the record for largest piece count, clocking in at over 11,000 pieces! For the largest in terms of size, the Lego Star Wars Death Star measures over 27.5 in. (70 cm) high, 31 in. (79 cm) wide and 10.5 in. (27 cm) deep (and includes over 9,000 pieces and 36 minifigures!).