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I spent a little time a few weeks ago playing the US patent website to try to look up the Lego Minifigure Patents that I hear so much about. However, every time I tried a potential search, I came up empty handed. I eventually gave up and moved on to other things. (Lego related of course).
However, tonight while searching for new stuff to add to my collection on eBay, I noticed this auction selling a poster of the Lego Minifigure Patent. I thought, this has the number on it, (253711) so I should have not problem navigating the US patent website and finding the original. This is being sold by eBay user posterenvy. At a price of only $9.00, this is a pretty nice find and I think I am going to pick one up.
I also noticed this one as well that I thought looked pretty neat.
I was incorrect on this assumption. I still could not figure out how to use the Patent Office Website. Heck, I was not even sure I was on the correct website. I almost gave up and then I decided to throw the patent number, 253711, into google and this came up.
Well I wonder I thought. I went ahead and clicked on it and it was exactly what I was looking for. Not only did it have the images that I was looking for, but it also had the links to the US Patent office as well so that I could see the original. Additionally, it also had links to all patents by the Lego company, all Patents by Christiansen and all Patents by Knudson. It even had some links to the Patents filed in Canada as well.
After clicking around for a while, I found a few choice images that I thought were interesting and worth saving.
FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of the toy figure, showing our new design.
FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the toy figure,
FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of the toy figure,
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the toy figure,
FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the toy figure,
FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view in one position of the toy figure,
FIG. 7 is a front perspective view in the same position of the toy figure,
FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view in another position of the toy figure, and
FIG. 9 is a front perspective view in the same position of the toy figure.
I also found this Patent # 4205482 which has the following description.
“A toy figure, adapted to be detachably mounted on a base plate pertaining to a toy building set and provided with coupling studs, is provided with a leg assembly comprising a pair of identical leg elements having substantially plane rear faces (calves). Recesses comprising lengthwise extending channels or pairs of holes are provided in the rear faces of the leg elements, and the width of these recesses is substantially equal to the width of the studs of the base plate. The recesses are symmetrical with respect to the lengthwise extending median plane of the leg elements and, in the position of the leg elements wherein their rear faces coincide, the distance between the axes of symmetry of the recesses is equal to the module m of the building set.”
The first embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 1-7, wherein
FIG. 1 is a rear elevation of the figure showing the back and the rear face of the leg members in an upright position.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing the same figure in a seated position.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a connecting plate for detachably mounting the leg members in the body member of the figure.
FIG. 4 is a similar perspective view showing the lower face of the connecting plate.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a leg member showing the rear face and one side face thereof.
FIG. 6 is a similar perspective view showing the front face and the other side face of the leg member.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the leg assembly comprising a pair of identical leg members mounted on the connecting plate of FIGS. 3 and 4.
The second embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 8-13, wherein
FIG. 8 is a rear elevation similar to FIG. 1 showing a modified form of the rear face of the leg members.
FIG. 9 is a side elevation of the same FIGURE, partly in vertical section.
FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken on the line X–X of FIG. 8.
FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken on the line XI–XI of FIG. 9.
FIG. 12 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section, showing the figure of FIGS. 8 and 9 in a seated position on a base plate.
FIG. 13 is a rear elevation of the figure shown in FIG. 12.
Then I tweaked the search a little bit to find other figures that the Lego Group has Patented. I ended up finding way more than I expected.
Here is the attempt to Patent the Lego Pirate I think.
FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a toy figure showing my new design;
FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view thereof;
FIG. 3 is a front elevational view thereof;
FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view thereof;
FIG. 5 is a right side elevational view thereof;
FIG. 6 is a left side elevational view thereof;
FIG. 7 is a top plan view thereof;
FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view thereof;
FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view of the toy figure in a walking position;
FIG. 10 is a front perspective view of the toy figure in a walking position.
Here are some of the Fabuland Patents and other minifigure related patents that I could find. Do you know of any others? Just click on the image to see a larger image.
I will look at some of these a little more later. It looks like the attempted to Patent quite a few of the Fabuland figures. Each and every head.
If you like this page, you will probably like to see where all of the Mr Gold Minifigures have gone to.
