Revised Trademark Guidelines for LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®

LEGO published today their revised Trademark Guidelines for LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. You may download the PDF document here (10 MB): NEW_LEGO_SERIOUS_PLAY_TrademarkGuidelines

No images of Minifigures nor bricks

Some of us are violating a basic rule of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Trademark Guidelines. You should not use close-up images of Minifigures nor bricks – not in your company logos, not as your profile photos nor on your company website, on social media and here at SeriousPlayPro.com community website.

Disclaimer to all your marketing materials

Also, we advise you add to all your electronic and physical marketing materials where you advertise LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology the following disclaimer: “LEGO, SERIOUS PLAY, IMAGINOPEDIA, the Minifigure and the Brick and Knob configurations are trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this (website / company / facilitator)”.

LEGO Group has suggested that all the active facilitators would review their marketing materials and make revisions accordingly.

The most important parts of the Trademark Guidelines are listed below.

Trademark Guidelines 1. – LEGO® IP rights

The LEGO Group owns all rights and intellectual property rights in and to the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology as well as LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® materials, including, without limitation, the following:

• The trademarks LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and SERIOUS PLAY®
• The trademark IMAGINOPEDIA™
• The copyrighted LEGO materials for Real Time Strategy and Real Time Identity
• The copyrighted IMAGINOPEDIA™ guide books
• The copyrighted Facilitator Manual(s)*
• The copyrighted Window workshop materials
• The copyrighted LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® marketing materials

Trademark Guidelines 2. How to inform about having received training

Certified facilitators of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method and materials may place this recognition on their own websites and other visual media as part of their marketing efforts.

• Correct: “(Name), Certified facilitator of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method and materials”
• Incorrect: “(Name), LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® certified partner”
• Incorrect: “(Name), LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator”

Trademark Guidelines 3. How to inform about LSP related offerings

• The LEGO Group is not in a position to influence or guarantee the content or quality of workshops or experiences offered by management consultants/ facilitators to their clients under the use of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology and materials.
  Such offerings must therefore not be marketed or labelled as LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshops or experiences originated from or otherwise sponsored, endorsed or sanctioned by the LEGO Group.
• The LEGO logo, the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® logo and the LEGO® minifigure itself may not be used as part of facilitators’ visual marketing or offering. The logo/business sign of the facilitator may not feature LEGO bricks or minifigures.
• No LEGO trademark or name may be used on facilitators’ stationary, business cards, websites, social media platforms or other corporate identity indicators.
• Management consultants/facilitators may offer their services to end clients in their visual marketing, online or otherwise, under their own brand. Such offerings must be labeled in a way which clearly is not a copy of the wording and definitions used in the materials to which the LEGO Group holds the proprietary rights.

Trademark Guidelines 4. – do’s and don’ts

The offering and marketing may make descriptive reference to the use of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® materials and methodology.

• Correct: “Better Process Consultancy offers Participatory Strategic Development Workshop using the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® materials and methodology” or “Great Training Company offers “Facilitator Training Workshop in the use of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® materials and methodology”.
• Incorrect: “Great Training Company offers LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® training” or “Better Process Consultancy offers LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Workshop”

Trademark Guidelines 5. – how to use photo material in visual marketing, certificates, online or otherwise

• The photo material can include training sessions with the use of LEGO bricks and elements but without detailed focus on the LEGO products.
• Iconic and/or emphasized use of the LEGO® minifigures and/or the LEGO bricks/knobs is not allowed.
• The illustrations set forth in the Trademark Guidelines are examples of acceptable use of photos recorded during training.
• Photos may not feature the LEGO® logo or the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® logo.

Trademark Guidelines 6. – general trademark guidelines

When management consultants/facilitators make reference to trademarks contained in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Materials
(the “Trademarks”), to which the LEGO Group holds all proprietary rights, the following guidelines apply:

• The Trademark must always be written in capital letters. The LEGO name is always spelled in all capital letters and the bricks (and/or elements) must always be referred to as “LEGO bricks” (or “LEGO elements”) – never “LEGOs” or “legos”.
• LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® should always be followed by a descriptive word; for example a noun (LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® concept, or LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology).
• The first time the Trademarks appear in a headline and in the following text, they should be accompanied by the relevant symbol: the LEGO trademark and SERIOUS PLAY by the ®-symbol and IMAGINOPEDIA by the ™symbol. Thereafter, the symbols need not to be used more on the same page, or in the same chapter.
• The facilitators’ own name/trademark must be spatially separated from the Trademark used on the page. The facilitators’ own name/trademark must appear in significantly larger type than the Trademarks.
• Facilitators may not set any of the Trademarks in a special typeface or lettering so that the word takes on the appearance of a new logo or design.
• The following disclaimer must appear in the close proximity to the Trademarks: “LEGO, SERIOUS PLAY, IMAGINOPEDIA, the Minifigure and the Brick and Knob configurations are trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this website”.
• The following copyright text must always be applied in close proximity to, for example, extracts from the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® concept, which are incorporated into the facilitators’ own materials: “© [insert present year] The LEGO Group”.