Are companies producing custom molded LEGO pieces legally entitled to do so? We have seen (or I have seen, given I am a member of a few popular BIONICLE fan sites) an uproar from custom molding companies -- that is, companies that create their own LEGO pieces.

My question is simply whether these kinds of things are legal, as I know LEGO is very tight with legal issues.
from the german wikipedia entry (translated with my poor english-skills):


The Federal Court of germany opened the market for LEGO-like bricks on december 2nd 2004
The European Court of Justice decided in september 2010 that LEGO-Bricks can be copied as they aren't protected by patents anymore


so at least in europe there doesn't seem to be a problem in producing custom bricks and exact copies of LEGO-bricks.