LEGO continues trademark battle after Supreme Court appeal ruling

The LEGO Group is continuing its long-running legal battle with ZURU after New Zealand’s Supreme Court allowed its appeal to proceed.

The dispute centres on ZURU’s MAX Build More construction sets, which previously carried the phrase ‘LEGO brick compatible’ on packaging. The LEGO Group challenged this wording, arguing that it places its trademark too prominently in competitor marketing and risks overstepping the boundaries of trademark protection. 

Though an earlier High Court ruling had sided with the LEGO Group, ZURU won a significant victory when the Court of Appeal overturned it in December 2025.

The Supreme Court has now granted the LEGO Group permission to continue its challenge, sending the case back to the Court of Appeal for reconsideration. The LEGO Group will again argue that the High Court reached the correct conclusion and that stronger protection should apply to its trademark in commercial contexts.

This is not the first time the two companies have clashed. In 2020, LEGO successfully blocked ZURU from producing its own version of minifigures after the court found that ZURU had infringed their trademark rights.

The outcome of the ongoing appeal could shape how toy manufacturers describe compatibility in future, particularly when their products are designed to work alongside large companies like the LEGO Group.

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