Toymaker to appeal Lego injunction at Fed Circuit

A Hong Kong-based toy company is fighting back against an injunction obtained by Lego barring the sale of its minifigures in the US.

Court documents filed last week at the US District Court for the District of Connecticut said that Zuru has filed an appeal at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit against the injunction.

Lego sued Zuru in December last year over minifigure toys, which the Danish toymaker said infringed its trademarks, copyright, design patents and trade dress.

In July, the district court issued a preliminary injunction barring Zuru from manufacturing, distributing or selling the allegedly infringing products.

In the original suit, Lego said that Zuru’s toys were “confusingly, strikingly and substantially similar to the overall look and feel of the Lego Minifigure figurine”.

Zuru was originally founded in New Zealand and now has its headquarters in Hong Kong.

The company describes itself as a “disruptive and award-winning company that designs, manufactures and markets innovative toys”.

Zuru says that it employs, directly or indirectly, 5,000 staff across 10 countries and distributes to major retailers in 120 countries.

Lego has been active in looking to clamp down on rival toys which it says infringe its IP.

In July, Lego won an injunction at the Connecticut district court against British company Best-Lock Construction Toys.

Lego originally filed the suit in 2011, calling out Best-Lock ads which Lego said had highlighted the “well-known interchangeability of Best-Lock figures and their body parts with Lego's”.

The court found that Best-Lock’s products were “indistinguishable” from Lego’s, and rejected Best-Lock’s argument that Lego copyright registrations for the toy designs were invalid.