The LEGO Group The LEGO Group is a family - owned company based in Billund , and best known for the manufacture of LEGO - brand toys . The company was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen and today the group is one of the world ' s leading manufacturers of play materials for children . The LEGO Group is committed to children ' s creative development and learning , and its products can be purchased in more than 130 countries . It was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by " Working Mothers " magazine . The name of the company is often abbreviated TLG or TLC ( The LEGO Group / Company ) and sometimes is simply called " LEGO . " LEGOLAND . The LEGO Group built four amusement parks around the world , known as " LEGOLAND " . Each park features large - scale LEGO models of famous landmarks and miniature LEGO models of famous cities , along with LEGO - themed rides . The oldest LEGOLAND park is located in Billund , Denmark . Others followed : LEGOLAND Windsor in England , LEGOLAND California in Carlsbad , California , and LEGOLAND Deutschland in Germany . All four parks have recently been sold to Blackstone Group , although LEGO Group still retains a 30 % interest and voting rights . Malaysia is opening Legoland on 15th Sep 2012 . Canada is expected to get a LEGOLAND . Retail stores . When the Mall of America opened in 1992 , one of its premier attractions , next to the Camp Snoopy amusement park , was the LEGO Imagination Center ( LIC ) . A second LIC opened at the Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World . A LIC is a large LEGO store with displays of LEGO sculptures as well as a play area with bins of bricks to build with ; they offer a large selection of LEGO sets for sale , including sets which are advertised in LEGO catalogues as " Not Available In Any Store . " North American stores . 1999 saw the opening of ' LEGO Brand Retail Outlet ' store in Dawsonville , GA ( USA ) located at the North Georgia Premium Outlet Mall . The fourth store was another LIC at the Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort . The fifth store was another outlet , located at Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge , VA . A sixth store , described as a " Brand Retail Store " opened in Chicago , IL . The seventh store was a third outlet store , located at Discover Mills Mall in Lawrenceville , GA . The eighth store was a fourth outlet , located at Colorado Mills Mall . In 2003 , LEGO Brand Retail in the started a larger expansion , adding seven new stores to the existing eight stores : Burlington , MA ( Burlington Mall ) ; Marlborough , MA ( Solomon Pond Mall ) ; Paramus , NJ ( Paramus Park Mall ) ; West Nyack , NY ( Palisades Center Mall ) ; Schaumburg , IL ( Woodfield Mall ) ; Northbrook , IL ( Northbrook Court Mall ) ; Glendale , CA ( Glendale Galleria ) . In 2004 , a second expansion opened stores in the following locations : Bellevue , WA ; Santa Clara , CA ; San Mateo , CA ; Pleasanton , CA ; Bridgewater , NJ ; McLean , VA ; Rockaway , NJ ; Smithville , NY . In 2005 , a third expansion opened stores in the following locations : Portland , OR ; Ontario , CA ; Natick , MA . In January 2005 , the Dawsonville Outlet was closed . Due to flooding , the LEGO store in Nashville TN ( Opry Mills Mall ) will be closed until May 2012 . Europe Stores . October 2002 saw a significant change in LEGO Group ' s direct retail policy with the opening of the first so - called " LEGO Brand Store " in Cologne , [ Germany . The second , in Milton Keynes , United Kingdom , followed very quickly - several dozen more opened world - wide over the next few years , and most of the existing stores have been remodelled on the new " Brand Store " template . One of the distinctive features of these new stores is the inclusion of a " Pick - A - Brick " system that allows customers to buy individual bricks in bulk quantities . How a customer buys LEGO at a Pick - A - Brick is quite simple ; Customers fill a large or small cup or bag with their choice of LEGO bricks from a large and varied selection and purchase it . The opening of most of these stores , including the 2003 opening of one in Birmingham ' s Bull Ring shopping centre , have been marked by the production of a new , special , limited edition , commemorative LEGO DUPLO piece . History . The LEGO Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen , a carpenter from Billund , Denmark . Ole Kirk started creating wooden toys in 1932 , but it was not until 1949 the famous plastic LEGO brick was created . The company name " LEGO " was coined by Christiansen from the Danish phrase " leg godt " , meaning " play well . " The LEGO Group claims that " LEGO " means " I put together " or " I assemble " in Latin , though this is a rather liberal translation . In 1947 , Ole Kirk and Godtfred obtained samples of interlocking plastic bricks produced by the company Kiddicraft via a London - based injection moulding equipment manufacturer which was interested in developing its equipment sales in Denmark . The initial response from Mr Christiansen was skeptical , but the company produced the Kiddicraft bricks and said " you could be making these rather than your wooden toys . " The name London Injection Moulders appears beneath early Kiddicraft bricks . These " Kiddicraft Self - Locking Building Bricks " were designed and patented in the UK by Mr . Hilary Harry Fisher Page , a child psychologist , who in 1957 took his own life without receiving any major benefit from the global fame of his invention . In 1949 , LEGO began producing similar bricks , calling them " Automatic Binding Bricks . " These bricks , manufactured from cellulose acetate , were developed in the spirit of traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked upon one another ; however , these plastic bricks could be " locked " together . They had several round " studs " on top , and a hollow rectangular bottom . They would stick together , but not so tightly that they could not be pulled apart . The use of plastic for toy manufacture was not highly regarded by retailers and consumers of the time . Many of the LEGO Group ' s shipments were returned , following poor sales ; it was thought that plastic toys could never replace wooden ones . By 1954 , Christiansen ' s son , Godtfred , had become the junior managing director of the LEGO Group . It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that inspired the idea of a toy system . Godtfred saw the immense potential in LEGO bricks to become a system for creative play , but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint : their " locking " ability was limited , and they were not very versatile . It was not until 1958 that the modern - day brick design was developed . The bricks were improved with hollow tubes in the underside of the brick . This added support in the base , enabling much better locking ability and improved versatility . That same year , Ole Kirk Christiansen died , and Godtfred inherited leadership of the company . In 1963 , the material used to create LEGO bricks , cellulose acetate , was dropped in favor of more stable acrylonitrile butadiene styrene , or ABS plastic , which is still use today . ABS is non - toxic , less prone to discolouration and warping , and is also more resistant to heat , acids , salt , and other chemicals than cellulose acetate . LEGO bricks manufactured from ABS plastic in 1963 still hold most of their shape and colour 40 years later , and still neatly interlock with LEGO bricks manufactured today . Over the years many more LEGO sets , series , and pieces were created , with many innovative improvements and additions , culminating into the colourful versatile building toys that we know them as today . Trademark and patents . Since the expiration of the last standing LEGO patent in 1988 , a number of companies have produced interlocking bricks that are similar to LEGO bricks . The toy company " Tyco Toys " produced such bricks for a time ; the greatest rival is " Mega Bloks " . These competitor products are typically compatible with LEGO bricks , and are marketed at a lower cost than LEGO sets . One such competitor is Coko , manufactured by Chinese company Tianjin Coko Toy Co . , Ltd . In 2002 , LEGO Group Swiss subsidiary InterLEGO AG sued the company for copyright infringement . A trial court found many Coko bricks to be infringing ; Coko was ordered to cease manufacture of the infringing bricks , publish a formal apology in the " Beijing Daily " , and pay a small fee in damages to InterLEGO . On appeal , the Beijing High People ' s Court upheld the trial court ' s ruling . In 2003 LEGO Group won a lawsuit in Norway against the marketing group Biltema for its sale of Coko products , on the grounds that the company used product confusion for marketing purposes . Also in 2003 , a large shipment of LEGO - like products marketed under the name " Enlighten " was seized by Finland customs authorities . The packaging of the Enlighten products was similar to official LEGO packaging . Their Chinese manufacturer failed to appear in court , and thus LEGO won a default action ordering the destruction of the shipment . LEGO Group footed the bill for the disposal of the 54 , 000 sets , citing a desire to avoid brand confusion and protect consumers from potentially inferior products . LEGO Group has attempted to trademark the " LEGO Indicia " , the studded appearance of the LEGO brick , hoping to stop production of Mega Bloks . On May 24 , 2002 , the Federal Court of Canada dismissed the case , asserting the design is functional and therefore ineligible for trademark protection . The LEGO Group ' s appeal was dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal on July 14 , 2003 . In October 2005 , the Supreme Court ruled unanimoussly that " Trademark law should not be used to perpetuate monopoly rights enjoyed under now - expired patents . " and held that Mega Bloks can continue to manufacture their bricks . Economic difficulties . In 2003 , the LEGO Group faced a budget deficit of 1 . 4 billion DKK ( 220 million at then current exchange rates ) , causing president Poul Plougmann to be fired and Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen to take over . In the following year , almost one thousand employees were fired , due to budget cuts . However , in October , 2004 , as the LEGO Group faced an even larger deficit , Kristiansen once again stepped down as president , while placing 800 , 000 DKK of his private funds in the company . Plans for getting the company back on track included selling the LEGOLAND entertainment parks and reducing its workforce . The company also planned to move production of its bricks to the Czech Republic . In 2005 , the LEGO Group reported a 2004 net loss of DKK 1 , 931 million on a total turnover , including LEGOLAND amusement parks , of DKK 7 , 934 million . For 2005 , the results were encouraging : a profit of DKK 702 million , thanks among other things to an increase of revenue to DKK 7 , 050 million in 2005 against DKK 6 , 315 million in 2004 ( + 12 % ) , the sale of amusement parks , of a factory in Switzerland and general tightening up . During 2008 , The LEGO Group said that the year was one of the best with prices up by about 9 . 5 Million DKK . " Toy of the Century " . On January 30 , 2000 , to celebrate the end of the millennium , the British Association of Toy Retailers ( BATR ) conducted a poll of the public to help determine what toy would be crowned as the century ' s favorite , with LEGO as the winner . " Fortune Magazine " also gave the title of Toy of the Century to LEGO in 1999 .