A not-so-colorful ruling for Rubik’s maker
A puzzle facing Europe’s second-highest court was solved on Wednesday: Rubik’s Cube owner Spin Master Toys UK does not own the shape of its iconic multicolored puzzle, according to Reuters.
Invented by Hungarian professor Erno Rubik in 1974, the cube puzzle brand was acquired by Canadian children’s entertainment company Spin Master in 2021.
Spin Master took its case to the Luxembourg-based General Court after Greek toymaker Verdes Innovations SA, which makes similar cube puzzles, in 2013 asked the EU trademark office to invalidate several trademarks registered by Spin Master’s predecessor between 2008 and 2012.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office backed Verdes, saying Rubik’s Cube trademarks had been registered contrary to EU law. The Luxembourg-based General Court backed EUIPO.
“The General Court confirms the annulment of trademarks consisting of the shape of the ‘Rubik’s Cube’,” judges said. “As the essential characteristics of that shape are necessary to obtain a technical result, it should not have been registered as an EU trademark.”
Spin Master Toys, which can appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe’s highest, issued a statement saying it will continue to safeguard the Rubik’s Cube’s trademarks.
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