LEGO has a total of 3705 patents globally, out of which 3041 have been granted. Of these 3705 patents, more than 68% patents are active. United States of America is where LEGO has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Japan and China. Parallelly, Denmark seems to be the main focused R&D center and is also the origin country of LEGO.
LEGO was founded in the year 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen. Company is doing business in manufacturing Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks around the world, each known as LEGOLAND, and operates numerous retail stores.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of LEGO which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find LEGO’s patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over LEGO’s patent portfolio.
How many patents does LEGO have?
LEGO has a total of 3705 patents globally. These patents belong to 1247 unique patent families. Out of 3705 patents, 2526 patents are active.
How Many Patents did LEGO File Every Year?
Are you wondering why there is a drop in patent filing for the last two years? It is because a patent application can take up to 18 months to get published. Certainly, it doesn’t suggest a decrease in the patent filing.
| Year of Patents Filing or Grant | LEGO Applications Filed | LEGO Patents Granted |
| 2024 | 8 | 129 |
| 2023 | 245 | 206 |
| 2022 | 126 | 204 |
| 2021 | 152 | 277 |
| 2020 | 426 | 212 |
| 2019 | 105 | 99 |
| 2018 | 108 | 74 |
| 2017 | 103 | 107 |
| 2016 | 137 | 121 |
| 2015 | 201 | 149 |
| 2014 | 107 | 111 |
| 2013 | 153 | 165 |
How many LEGO patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
How Many Patents did LEGO File in Different Countries?
Countries in which LEGO Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States of America | 390 |
| Japan | 332 |
| China | 281 |
| Korea (South) | 263 |
| Mexico | 235 |
| India | 221 |
| Europe (EPO) | 217 |
| Brazil | 214 |
| Canada | 201 |
| Russian Federation | 194 |
| Australia | 185 |
| Denmark | 169 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 150 |
| Germany | 140 |
| Spain | 60 |
| Norway | 60 |
| Poland | 51 |
| United Kingdom | 45 |
| Austria | 42 |
| Portugal | 29 |
| Switzerland | 8 |
| Costa Rica | 7 |
| Argentina | 6 |
| Colombia | 5 |
| Taiwan | 4 |
| Israel | 3 |
| Turkey | 3 |
| Italy | 2 |
| Viet Nam | 2 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| Indonesia | 1 |
| Chile | 1 |
| Singapore | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of LEGO Patents Located?
10 Best LEGO Patents
US6353170B1 is the most popular patent in the LEGO portfolio. It has received 269 citations so far from companies like Snap Inc, Sony and Google.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of LEGO:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US6353170B1 | 269 |
| WO2016075081A1 | 200 |
| US6585553B1 | 119 |
| US20070262984A1 | 113 |
| US6736691B1 | 99 |
| US7708615B2 | 93 |
| US6461215B1 | 92 |
| US7596473B2 | 91 |
| US6939192B1 | 90 |
| US8753164B2 | 87 |
How many inventions of other companies were rejected due to LEGO patents?
The statistics below share strategic R&D insights. It tells the companies that were trying to protect inventions similar to LEGO invention. They couldn’t because LEGO had protected those before them.
Examiners at the USPTO referred 48 LEGO patents in 201 rejections (35 USC § 102 or 35 USC § 103 types).
The top citing companies in the LEGO patent portfolio are May Patents, Microsoft and Sony.
List of the Companies whose Patents were rejected citing LEGO –
| Company | Number of Patent Applications that faced Rejection Citing Lego Patents | Number of Rejections (102 & 103) |
| May Patents | 11 | 16 |
| Microsoft | 5 | 9 |
| Sony | 5 | 8 |
| Autodesk | 3 | 4 |
| Mattel | 3 | 8 |
| Capital One Services | 3 | 4 |
| Intel Corporation | 3 | 3 |
| Geo Technical Laboratory | 2 | 3 |
| Swapbots | 2 | 5 |
| Rockwell Automation Technologies | 2 | 3 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on LEGO Patents
Top LEGO Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US10213692B2 | 19 |
| US8753164B2 | 9 |
| US7596473B2 | 7 |
| US20070262984A1 | 5 |
| US7979251B2 | 4 |
| US8753163B2 | 4 |
| US10812957B2 | 4 |
| US6939192B1 | 3 |
| US9144749B2 | 3 |
| US6461215B1 | 3 |
| US10016694B2 | 3 |
| US10583354B2 | 2 |
| US6736691B1 | 2 |
| US6547624B1 | 2 |
| US6389375B1 | 2 |
What are LEGO Top innovation segments?
Top technologies in LEGO’s patent portfolios relate mostly to Toy, Games, Manufacturing, Image data Processing and Computer Graphics.
Patents related to toy includes all types of toys that LEGO build: Robot toys, vehicle toys, dolls, Lego plastic bricks and much more.
Games patents encapsulates board games, gaming systems, game dice, controllers and virtual games.
Manufacturing related patents describe the process of manufacturing of different kinds of plastics toys or products, injection-moulding, additives and shaping or moulding of plastic.
Patents related to image data processing indicates various processes of rendering of images and image pattern recognition.
Computer Graphics patents encapsulates 3D rendering of objects, ray tracing, 3D modelling, digital representation and graphics rendering.
LEGO’s most cited patent US20040186623A1 relates to controlling process in a toy robot, the toy robot detects an object in a number of predetermined zones relative to the robot and for generating a detection signal identifying the zones; and further process the information for selecting and performing a predetermined action from a number of actions in response to a particular detection signal.
Top Emerging Technologies of LEGO
It was very interesting to note that LEGO is also working on technologies such as eraser, wearables, bio-toys, shelving systems and toy construction robot systems.
Erasers patents relates to an eraser made from a relatively resilient material having eraser properties allowing it to be used for erasing.
Patents related to Wearables relates to a wearable toy system which includes a wearable component that has at least one fastening member for securing the wearable component to a section of the user’s body such as watches, bands, and more.
Bio-Toys patents particularly indicates the toys which are made of biopolymers and are biodegradable in nature and also toys which are made from recycled ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) material.
Patents related to Shelving Systems relates to a shelving system comprising a mounting surface and at least one shelving unit. It is therefore an object to increase the variety of choices.
Patent related to Toy Construction Robot System relates in to a toy construction robot system comprising a robot control unit, the robot control unit comprises of a housing which includes a coupling element configured to releasably interconnect the robot control unit with a cooperating toy component; a processor including programmed instructions; and a plurality of I/O ports configured to communicate with the processor. It serves many functions such as providing a highly interactive and stimulating play experience to a user, particularly a child.
What are Lego key innovation segments?
What Technologies are Covered by Lego?
The chart below distributes patents filed by Lego in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Lego thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How has Lego search focus changed over the years?
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
Interested in knowing about the areas of innovation that are being protected by Lego?