EUIPO - European Union Intellectual Property Office’s Post

𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬? On this day in 1980, the Rubik’s Cube made its international debut. The Rubik’s cube was invented by a Hungarian professor. Ernő Rubik wanted to create a teaching tool. He ended up creating one of the most famous toys in the world. Find here 5 curiosities about it (and about IP) 🧙♂️ The cube was originally known as the ‘Magic Cube’. It was an almost instant success worldwide and it became part of the 80s popular culture. 💡 Rubik applied for a patent on the puzzle for the first time in 1975. Following the expiration of Rubik's patent in 2000, many brands of cubes appeared, especially from Chinese companies. 💵 It was reported that 'Spin Master' paid around 50 million euro to buy the Rubik's Cube brand. ⚖️ 'Spin Master' owns 17 EU trade marks and 3 Community Designs related to the cube. Among them: its name and shape and many variations of the cube itself. It was registered as an 3D EU trade mark in 1998 for the first time and there has been many discussions ad Court rulings concerning the cube, its shape and if it is (or not) sufficient to grant it trade mark protection - check the case on Esearch Case Law 📜 The Rubik’s Cube is intimately linked to mathematics, group theory, spatial transformation, geometry and pattern recognition. “A symbol of the path from chaos to order”, according to Erno Rubik himself. PS: Happy birthday, Mr Rubik! (born 13 July 1944) #rubikscube #ernorubik #intellectualproperty #trademarks #onthisday #rubikday