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ARTICLE · 09 NOVEMBER 2018

Rubik's Cube Puzzled After Losing EU Trademark Battle

Johnson Bryant
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It's the familiar multicoloured 3D brainteaser that has challenged puzzle enthusiasts for more than 40 years and is still the world's bestselling toy of all time.

European UnionIntellectual Property

It's the familiar multicoloured 3D brainteaser that has challenged puzzle enthusiasts for more than 40 years and is still the world's bestselling toy of all time.

But on Thursday – after a 10-year legal tussle – Rubik's Cube lost a key trademark battle after the European court of justice (ECJ) said its shape was not sufficient to grant it protection from copycat versions.

The eponymous puzzle, invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and architect Prof Ernő Rubik, is popular among young and old, with more than 350m cubes sold worldwide.

UK company Seven Towers, which oversees Rubik's Cube intellectual property rights, registered the shape as a three-dimensional EU trademark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in April 1999.

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