The force is with Lego, the Danish toymaker which saw profits soar by a galactic 63 per cent last year thanks to a boost from Darth Vader and friends.

For some 18-year-olds, being photographed holding hands with your mother would be quite punishment enough. So would the suit. And the tie. Even if it was loosely knotted and worn with a not-fully-buttoned-up shirt.

Danish toymaker Lego will open 14 stores in Europe by the end of the year, just seven years after previous expansion plans failed.

In these recession-hit times, parents may be relieved to hear that the "Dream Dozen" Christmas toys all cost less than £100 this year. However, eyebrows in some households may shoot skywards at the news that one of the toys bears more than a passing resemblance to an AK-47 assault rifle.

Bad news for Lego, the Danish toy manufacturer with which the world has grown up. Its bricks – specifically the most basic 4x2 block – have long been protected by European trademark law, preventing rivals from offering similar products. Now the European Court of Justice has upheld a complaint from Canada's Mega Brands, the maker of Mega Bloks, that trademark protection can't be extended to a shape in this way. There's no room for sentimentality in the courtroom.

The Lego brick, one of the most instantly recognised toys in the world, cannot be trademarked, European judges have ruled.

The Lego brick, one of the most instantly recognised toys in the world, cannot be trademarked, European judges ruled today.

The Danish pastry, when you come to think about it, is really just a croissant with a bit of icing on top. There is something of similar delightful simplicity about the rocket which, if the wind is in the right direction, could soon make Denmark only the fourth nation in the world to send a man into space.

By the time you read this, I'll be sat in a field with my partner and son, Krishan, celebrating his third birthday in Cornwall. We decided to head to the coast for a bit of rest and relaxation after our second festival of 2010.

Malcolm Gladwell is the New Yorker essayist who has also published three best-selling, non-fiction books: The Tipping Point, Blink and The Outliers, but not Jamie Does, which is by Jamie Oliver and is a celebration of food from six different countries. Wake up!