Lego loses trademark battle
The Lego brick, one of the most instantly recognised toys in the world, cannot be trademarked, European judges have ruled.
The Danish toymaker's basic red plastic brick was the building block for a global toy-industry success. The brick's shape was registered as an EU trademark in 1999.
But the rival Canadian maker Mega Brands successfully appealed to the EU's trademark office to cancel Lego's trademark. The experts decreed that a brick was a technical shape which could not be trademarked.
Lego, claimed the company's lawyers, contains characteristics that set it apart. But the judges ruled that keeping the Lego trademark on the brick design created a monopoly on what amounted to a functional shape.
So I guess this means any company can make little plastic bricks that work with Lego bricks... in Europe, at least.
Ah, no jeans this Friday. Sad now.
Mystifying studio portrait photos.
So, my kitty survived the second attempt to remove her broken canine tooth, which was successful. (The previous attempt (eta: about a month ago) resulted in respiratory arrest from the anesthesia.)
She'll need pain meds for several days, but she's doing fine.
Speaking of dental surgery (but for humans), this Hyperbole and a Half had me LOLing:
The Party
Neatorama sez:
You know this is going to be funny. Allie Brosch tells about the time she had oral surgery the same day as a friend’s birthday party. Part of the account reminds me of the viral video David After Dentist, except of course things get much worse.
I'm sorry, but is it really called a canine tooth on a cat???
I guess it's not technically any weirder than calling it a canine tooth on a person, but... cats and dogs! Living together!
I'm sorry, but is it really called a canine tooth on a cat???
You've got some of those too, you know.
eta: a day late...
