Use of GALLERI LEGO did not infringe the LEGO trademark

LEGO Holding A/S vs. Louise Lego (previously Louise Lego Andersen), the Supreme Court

In 2003 Louise Lego Andersen opened an art gallery under the name GALLERI LEGO, where Louise Lego Andersen exhibits and sells her paintings.

Louise Lego Andersen registered galleri-lego.dk, which she used for a website to market her gallery. Further, she registered LEGO as a meta-tag and key word on the internet.

In 2006 Louise Lego Andersen changed her name to Louise Lego following an amendment in the Danish Person’s Names Act.

LEGO group owns the trademark LEGO in most countries of the world. The tra¬demark LEGO is mostly used for toys, in particular the famous LEGO con¬struc¬tion toys, but also for other goods and services such as clothing and amuse¬ment parks. The Court found that LEGO is a very well known trademark with a high degree of distinctiveness.

Louise Lego Andersen was, according to the Danish Person’s Names Act, en¬titled to change her name from Louise Lego Andersen to Louise Lego, and the court stated that according to the Trademarks Act, Louise Lego is entitled to use the name Lego provided that it is used as a surname.

Further, as LEGO is such a well-known trademark, it is unavoidable that Galleri Lego is immediately associated with the trademark LEGO, but taking into consideration the differences between the goods and services for which the trademark LEGO and Galleri Lego are used, there is no actual risk of confusion.

Finally, the Court found that the use of LEGO by Louise Lego was not disloyal, improper or detrimental to the LEGO trademark, and Louise Lego was therefore entitled to use the name Galleri Lego, the domain name galleri-lego.dk and use LEGO as a meta-tag and key word on the internet.