--- description: The court ruled that the figures were an aesthetic choice, not a necessity for anyone making "interlocking building blocks." title: Lego Figures Are Trademarked, EU Court Rules image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c36cbc6dc1c6ff7/698854b1e53aba31744de30e/lego-figures.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Lego Figures Are Trademarked, Court Rules ## Video: LEGO® Star Wars™ - Largest Millennium Falcon! [Watch (HLS stream): LEGO® Star Wars™ - Largest Millennium Falcon!](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yaFs5LJk.m3u8) (0:54)  _Published 2015-05-04. Dan and Chris Steininger, father and son LEGO master builders from the U.S. and a team of fans took two days to put together the iconic Star Wars spacecraft at the Westfield Southland mall in Melbourne, Australia,_ by [Jacob Koffler](/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2015 3:02 PM CUT  Lego figures are displayed on the opening day of BRICK 2014 at the Excel Centre on November 27, 2014 in London. Lego figures are displayed on the opening day of BRICK 2014 at the Excel Centre on November 27, 2014 in London.Dan Kitwood—Getty Images by [Jacob Koffler](/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2015 3:02 PM CUT The shapes of Lego men and women are trademarked by the company and cannot be copied, according to a [court ruling released Tuesday](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33147827?ocid=socialflow%5Ftwitter "undefined"). The major toy company was under fire from a competitor, Best-Lock, which argued that the shape of Lego people was not an artistic decision so much as a necessity, because the toys involve “interlocking building blocks for play purposes.” However, the General Court of the European Union ruled that aspects of the company’s design, like the holes in the figures’ feet and legs did not have a “technical function,” and upheld the trademark. Lego first registered their figures as a “three-dimensional trademark” in 2000\. Lego also tried to trademark a red toy building brick in 2010, but lost the case to Canadian competitor Mega Bloks. _\[_[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33147827?ocid=socialflow%5Ftwitter "undefined")_\]_ ### See Celebrities and Their Lego Figures  Chris Pratt: Owen Grady Universal; Lego  Chris Pratt: Star Lord Disney/Marvel; Lego  Zoe Saldana: Gamora Disney/Marvel; Lego  Dave Bautista: Drax Disney/Marvel; Lego  Robert Downey Jr.: Iron Man Disney/Marvel; Lego  Chris Evans: Captain America Disney/Marvel; Lego  Chris Hemsworth: Thor Disney/Marvel; Lego  Scarlett Johansson: Black Widow Disney/Marvel; Lego  Jeremy Renner: Hawkeye Disney/Marvel; Lego  Mark Ruffalo: Hulk Disney/Marvel; Lego  Paul Bettany: Vision Disney/Marvel; Lego  Elizabeth Olsen: Scarlet Witch Disney/Marvel; Lego  Aaron Taylor-Johnson: Quicksilver Disney/Marvel; Lego  Cobie Smulders: Agent Maria Hill Disney/Marvel; Lego  Tom Hiddleston: Loki Disney/Marvel; Lego  Samuel L. Jackson: Nick Fury Disney/Marvel; Lego  Samuel L. Jackson: Mace Windu Lucasfilm/Disney; Lego  Mark Hamill: Luke Skywalker Lucasfilm/Disney; Lego  Harrison Ford: Han Solo Lucasfilm/Disney; Lego  Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones Paramount; Lego  Carrie Fisher: Leia Organa Lucasfilm/Disney; Lego  Billy Dee Williams: Lando Calrissian Lucasfilm/Disney; Lego  Christopher Lee: Count Dooku Lucasfilm/Disney; Lego  Christopher Lee: Saruman New Line Cinema; Lego  Sir Ian Mckellen: Gandalf the Grey New Line Cinema; Lego  Elijah Wood: Frodo Baggins New Line Cinema; Lego  Sean Astin: Samwise Gamgee New Line Cinema; Lego  Viggo Mortensen: Aragorn New Line Cinema; Lego  Orlando Bloom: Legolas New Line Cinema; Lego  John Rhys-Davies: Gimli New Line Cinema; Lego  Hugo Weaving: Elrond New Line Cinema; Lego  Daniel Radcliffe: Harry Potter Warner Bros.; Lego  Emma Watson: Hermione Granger Warner Bros.; Lego  Rupert Grint: Ron Weasley Warner Bros.; Lego  Alan Rickman: Professor Snape Warner Bros.; Lego  Helena Bonham Carter: Bellatrix Lestrange Warner Bros.; Lego ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3922661/lego-figures-trademarked/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3922661/lego-figures-trademarked/"},"headline":"Lego Figures Are Trademarked, Court Rules","datePublished":"2015-06-16T15:02:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:01.926Z","description":"The court ruled that the figures were an aesthetic choice, not a necessity for anyone making \"interlocking building blocks\"","url":"https://time.com/3922661/lego-figures-trademarked/","keywords":["Companies","Lego"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c36cbc6dc1c6ff7/698854b1e53aba31744de30e/lego-figures.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jacob Koffler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c36cbc6dc1c6ff7/698854b1e53aba31744de30e/lego-figures.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"lego figures","caption":"lego figures","creditText":"Dan Kitwood—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3922661/lego-figures-trademarked/","name":"Lego Figures Are Trademarked, Court Rules"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"LEGO® Star Wars™ - Largest Millennium Falcon!","description":"Dan and Chris Steininger, father and son LEGO master builders from the U.S. and a team of fans took two days to put together the iconic Star Wars spacecraft at the Westfield Southland mall in Melbourne, Australia,","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yaFs5LJk/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-05-04T04:55:19.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yaFs5LJk.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3922661/lego-figures-trademarked/","duration":"PT54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3922661/lego-figures-trademarked/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```