On 28 January 1958, Godtfred Kirk filed a patent in Denmark for an automatic binding brick described as a toy building element.
![The day the LEGO brick was born - January 28, 1958 [Feature] - The Brothers Brick | The Brothers Brick](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/media.brothers-brick.com/2021/01/LEGO-Original-Patent-Document.jpg)
Kirk’s idea built on his father’s business, named “Lego” as a derivation of the phrase leg godt or “play well”.
The product has affected so many children’s lives and generated so many statistics that it is sufficient to wonder whether Ikea is merely an adult extension of Scandanavia’s most famous contribution to the family.
It is unsurprising that Lego is notoriously keen to protect its intellectual property. In a Google Map search for Lego in New York, the returns make clear that if you are thinking about purchasing a child some bricks from some shop, the appropriate mindset is that you are buying registered “LEGO” from a certified store or an authorised retailer.
