BATON ROUGE, La. – A Baton Rouge company alleges that famous toy company LEGO has no right to prevent it from selling LEGO-branded toys online.
Plaintiff Pelican Bricks LLC, an online retailer that uses platforms such as eBay and Walmart to sell the brick sets, filed its lawsuit against Boston-based Lego Systems Inc. in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
The company alleges in its three-page complaint that it has been selling LEGO-branded toys since 2024.
“Pelican exclusively purchases its LEGO branded inventory from retailers which, upon information and belief, Lego Systems authorized to sell LEGO branded toys,” the complaint states.
“Lego Systems authorized all of the vendors from whom Pelican purchased LEGO branded products to sell the same within the United States.”
Notable vendors from whom Pelican has bought LEGO-branded toys: Walmart, Target, Disneystore.com, and Lego.com itself.
“All of Pelican’s purchases of LEGO branded toys have been made in the United States,” the lawsuit states. “Pelican’s purchases of LEGO branded toys were either made online with delivery to a location in the United States or purchased from a physical store at a location in the United States.
Pelican has not purchased any LEGO-branded toys from any retailers located outside of the United States, it notes.
On July 2, 2026, July 23, 2026, and Aug. 4, 2026, Lego Systems sent Pelican letters accusing it of infringing Lego’s LEGO trademarks and demanding that Pelican stop selling LEGO-branded products, Pelican claims.
But Pelican argues it is not infringing on LEGO trademarks.
“Lego Systems has no legal right to prevent Pelican from selling the LEGO branded toys it has purchased or from selling LEGO branded toys which Pelican intends to purchase under similar conditions in the future,” the filing states.
“Pelican uses the LEGO trademarks only to convey to consumers that its products are genuine LEGO branded products. Pelican’s use of the LEGO brand to advertise and promote its LEGO branded products is nominative fair use.”
According to its eBay shop, Pelican Bricks is a veteran-owned business “fueled by a passion for LEGO collecting and building.”
“As avid LEGO enthusiasts, we specialize in offering a wide variety of unique and hard-to-find LEGO sets, minifigures, and accessories,” it states.
LEGO, founded in 1932, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials. The name “LEGO” is an abbreviation of the two Danish words “leg godt,” meaning “play well.”
Roy Kiesel Ford Doody & North in Baton Rouge is representing Pelican in the lawsuit.
