integration and defense electronics businesses to Lockheed Martin (below), which spun them off the next year to become L-3 Communications, but Loral and Lockheed are not among the "L"s. L3Harris Technologies – from the merger of L3 Technologies and Harris Corporation (both above) LaCie – from the French phrase la cie, meaning "the company" Lada – from the name of a Slavic goddess, and used as a trading name by Russian automobile manufacturer AvtoVAZ (АВТОВАЗ in Russian). VAZ is derived from Volzhsky Automobilny Zavod. Lancôme – began in 1935, when its founder, Armand Petitjean, was exploring the ruins of a castle, Le Chateau de Lancôme (located in Loir-et-Cher) while vacationing in the French countryside. Petitjean's inspiration for the company's symbol, a rose, was the many wild roses growing around the castle. LCL – from Le Crédit LyonnaisLe Coq Sportif – French sports equipment manufacturer. The name is French for "the athletic rooster", hence its logo, a rooster. The Gallic rooster is a famed symbol of France. Lego – combination of the Danish "leg godt", which means to "play well". Lego also means "I put together" in Latin, but Lego Group claims this is only a coincidence and the etymology of the word is entirely Danish. Years before the little plastic brick was invented, Lego manufactured wooden toys. Lenovo Group – portmanteau of "Le-" (from former name Legend) and "novo", pseudo-Latin for "new". This Chinese company took over IBM's PC division. Lesney Products – named from the founders Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith, who were school friends but not related. This British company made the Matchbox series of die-cast toys, similar to Dinky toys. Level 3 Communications – "Level 3" is a reference to the network layer of the OSI model. Lexmark – in the 1980s, IBM wanted to spin off its printer and typewriter businesses. The main production facility for this business segment was in Lexington, Kentucky, and the code name for the spinoff was Lexington Marketing. LG – from the combination of two popular Korean brands, Lucky and GoldStar. (In Mexico, publicists explained the name change as an abbreviation to Linea GoldStar, Spanish for GoldStar Line) Lidl – Named after painter and retired schoolteacher Ludwig Lidl, from whom Dieter Schwarz, the son of company founder Josef Schwarz bought the rights to the name for 1,000 German marks. Schwarz originally wanted to use the name of his father's former business