By JIM HAMMERAND
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal

The maker of Lego toys has sued a Minneapolis nonprofit called Project Legos, claiming that the group's name infringes on the Danish company's trademark.

The suit, filed in Minneapolis' U.S. District Court Friday, said consumers are likely to confuse Project Legos with The Lego Group, one of the largest toymakers in the world.

Lego is claiming trademark infringement, dilution and false designation of origin, all violations of the Federal Trademark Act.

The suit also labels Project Legos a cybersquatter for registering and using projectlegos.org, and accuses the group of engaging in deceptive trade practices.

"I think we're going to stand by who we are," said Project Legos Executive Director Kyle Rucker, who founded the group as a University of Minnesota sophomore in 2005. The nonprofit's mission is to "inspire, empower and prepare youth and community to be agents of change, social leaders and volunteers."

The group's name, Rucker said, is an acronym for "leadership, empowerment, growth, opportunity and sustainability." He said The Lego Group first asked the group to change its name as long ago as late 2009. He is seeking legal help to defend against Lego's charges.

"I feel kind of bullied ... Given the work that we have to do, we just don't have the time to focus on this kind of thing," Rucker said.

Besides stopping the group from using the Lego name, the suit asks for control over the Web site's domain name and for Project Legos to pay Lego triple the profits "attributable to the conduct complained of," plus attorneys' fees and damages.

Dean Karau, a trademark expert and partner and partner at Minneapolis law firm Fredrikson & Byron who's not involved in the case, said the toymaker's own philanthropic efforts could put it in the same realm as Project Legos.

"As the facts develop, we will learn more, but it might not necessarily look just like a a big company trying to beat up on a small one. There may actually be overlap that exists," he said.

In its suit, Lego said it has spent more than $50 million on advertising in United States in the past decade and reported sales in excess of $1 billion in the same market and period. The Lego mark first appeared in the United States in 1953 - the name Lego, according to the company's Web site, was named for the Danish translation of let's go: "leg godt."

The suit was filed by Minneapolis attorneys Thomas Boyd and Bradley Walz of Winthrop & Weinstine. Senior U.S. District Judge Hon. James Rosenbaum has been assigned to the case.