Bionicle
In 2001, several Māori tribal groups from New Zealand threatened legal action against Lego for allegedly trademarking Māori words used in naming the Bionicle product range. In response, a Lego spokesperson stated that only the term "Bionicle" had been trademarked. Lego agreed to stop commercial use of the Māori language after sending an executive to meet with Māori representatives in New Zealand. Some Māori terms used by Lego were changed, such as "Huki", which was changed to "Hewkii", and "Tohunga", which was changed to "Matoran". Within the fictional Bionicle universe, these changes were explained by the introduction of a "Naming Day" holiday, in which characters who have done heroic deeds for their village are honored by having the spelling of their name changed (though the pronunciation remains the same). However, a number of Māori terms such as "Toa", which means "warrior", "Kanohi", which means "face", and "Kopaka", which means "cold", were not changed. Since this controversy, Lego has not made any more names that are common terms in other living languages (with the exception of Umbra, a Latin word, and some names that are real names in some languages).