Lego Brick is Patented

On this day in 1958, LEGO filed the patent for what would become their famous LEGO Brick.

The Danish company was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen, its name deriving from the phrase leg godt, or ‘play well’. Initially producing wooden toys, the company expanded into plastic products in 1947 with its acquisition of plastic injection molding machines, with the production of plastic bricks becoming the main focus over time. Though not known at the time, the term ‘lego’ could be translated into Latin as ‘I put together’.

The design of the plastic bricks was inspired by Kiddicraft’s Self-Locking Building Bricks, stackable blocks secured with studs. However, users complained of the brick’s weak clutching power, making them unstable. Godtfred Christiansen, son of original founder Ole, came up with a solution, where 3 inner clutch tubes are placed beneath the brick, resulting in greater interlocking action between bricks. The patent was filed at 1.58pm, setting the stage for LEGO’s dominance in the toy industry.