Iconic brick plastic toy maker Lego Group recently won a brand infringement lawsuit against a company based in Costa Rica for using the former's name locally without permission or authorization. The lawsuit, said The Tico Times, resulted to the immediate halt of Multiservicios Lego PZ to use the Lego brand name in any business transactions or legal procedures effective February 11.
The local online paper said that the Billund, Denmark-based company hired a local attorney, Gabriela Miranda Urbina at Oller Abogados, to pursue the lawsuit against Multiservicios Lego. Lego decided to pursue the lawsuit against the Costa Rican company after a conclusion has been reached in a probe at Costa Rica's corporate registry offices and also in Denmark.
According to The Tico Times, Lego was concerned about the use of its brand name on the company's registered business name. Owners of the infringing Costa Rican company, Juan León Campos and Julio González Fallas, argued in court that the word "Lego" was a result of joining the first syllables of their last names. To distinguish itself from the Danish toy brand, they reportedly claimed that they added the letters PZ. Moreover, León Campos and González insisted that their company will not be selling toys in Costa Rica.
Miranda rejected León Campos and González's arguments and insisted that the current copyright law in Costa Rica protects companies from trademark theft irrespective of whatever the infringing company is selling.
The Tico Times said that Multiservicios Lego PZ is not the only company Oller Abogados has gone after with regard to infringing the Lego brand name. It has been revealed that Oller Abogados has pursued lawsuits against three other firms in Costa Rica, and that rulings regarding the lawsuits are expected in the following days.
The Tico Times said that the official distributor of the popular brick toys is Universal, and that the Lego brand name was registered in Costa Rica at the National Registry in 1970.
