LEGO has a total of 1975 patents globally, out of which 998 have been granted. Of these 1975 patents, more than 83% patents are active. United States of America is where LEGO has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Canada and Europe, it has generated an annual revenue of $6.63 billion in the year 2020. 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. As of December 2021, LEGO has a market valuation of $7.54 Billion.
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 1975 patents globally. These patents belong to 1517 unique patent families. Out of 1975 patents, 1655 patents are active.
How many LEGO patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
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 |
| 2011 | 201 | 37 |
| 2012 | 141 | 79 |
| 2013 | 157 | 54 |
| 2014 | 81 | 48 |
| 2015 | 196 | 102 |
| 2016 | 119 | 63 |
| 2017 | 107 | 73 |
| 2018 | 99 | 45 |
| 2019 | 74 | 78 |
| 2020 | 51 | 83 |
| 2021 | 13 | 77 |
How Many Patents did LEGO File in Different Countries?
Countries in which LEGO Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 361 |
| Canada | 231 |
| Europe | 192 |
| China | 162 |
| Japan | 116 |
| Australia | 110 |
| Denmark | 108 |
| Korea (South) | 90 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 89 |
| Brazil | 76 |
| Mexico | 63 |
| India | 47 |
| Poland | 35 |
| Turkey | 33 |
| Spain | 33 |
| Norway | 20 |
| Germany | 16 |
| Austria | 9 |
| Russia | 7 |
| Taiwan | 6 |
| Portugal | 5 |
| United Kingdom | 2 |
Where are Research Centers of LEGO Patents Located?
10 Best LEGO Patents
US20040186623A1 is the most popular patent in the LEGO portfolio. It has received 169 citations so far from companies like Konami Corporation, Sony and Samsung Electronics.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of LEGO:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US20040186623A1 | 169 |
| WO2016075081A1 | 127 |
| US20070262984A1 | 103 |
| US20100311300A1 | 99 |
| US20070063997A1 | 96 |
| US20060136180A1 | 85 |
| US7708615B2 | 84 |
| US8753164B2 | 84 |
| US20020140732A1 | 76 |
| US7596473B2 | 75 |
Which Companies are using LEGO Patents to Advance their Research?
If patents or patents from a particular technology area of a company receive a lot of citations, it implies that the technology is being followed and incrementally innovated by the citing companies. It also indicates that citing companies are working on similar and closely related technologies.
The top citing companies in the LEGO patent portfolio are May Patents, Microsoft Corporation and Samsung Electronics.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| May Patents | 10 |
| Microsoft Corporation | 5 |
| Samsung Electronics | 3 |
| Geo Technical Laboratory | 2 |
| Canon | 2 |
| Intel | 2 |
| Rockwell Automation Technologies | 2 |
| Kinematics | 2 |
| Technologyone | 2 |
| Lg Electronics | 2 |
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 |
| US20170304732A1 | 15 |
| US20100311300A1 | 11 |
| US20040186623A1 | 8 |
| US20070262984A1 | 5 |
| US8753163B2 | 5 |
| US20060136180A1 | 5 |
| US20080228450A1 | 5 |
| US20170265234A1 | 4 |
| US20020140732A1 | 4 |
| US20070063997A1 | 4 |
What Percentage of LEGO US Patent Applications were Granted?
LEGO (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 204 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 153 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 85.96%.
Below are the key stats of LEGO patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for LEGO?
| Law Firm | Total Application | Success Rate |
| Day Pitney Llp | 130 | 83.81% |
| Gerald Levy | 27 | 85.19% |
| Gerald Levy Esq | 11 | 90.91% |
| Pitney Hardin Kipp & Szuch Llp | 7 | 100.00% |
| Kane Dalsimer Sullivan Kurucz | 6 | 83.33% |
| Cantor Colburn Llp | 5 | 75.00% |
| Kane Dalsimer Sullivan Kurucz Levy | 2 | 100.00% |
| 1Ane Dalsimer Sullivan Kurucz | 1 | 100.00% |
| Chiron Corp | 1 | 100.00% |
| Finnegan Henderson Farabow | 1 | 100.00% |
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.
Authored By: Navjyot Singh, Insights;Gate Team