Patenting Speedcube Designs

Sion

Sion

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Hey!

As most of you know, I'm designing a speedcube with Abo called the "S-0 Tempest." I'm excited to start sharing my cube designs, and I willingly want to. However, I want to find a way to patent my designs so they aren't stolen. I know there are some people who know the law and patents much better than I do, and I wanted to know some things I can do to make sure I patent my cube designs so they are secured. Please share any advice and tips regarding this topic. Thank you.
 
Do the actual companies even patent their designs? I feel like the entire cubing industry operates a bit outside of that sort of thing.
Either way, this community doesn't have the most agreeable past with patents.
 
so... designers don't put a patent on their designs? Then how will I be able to prevent the tempest from being stolen when i show it to a big company for mass production?
 
I mean, I won't be a mr. verdes with it all, but I don't want the actual cube to be copied, but at the same time, I don't want to create the tempest with abo, and neither of us get the credit for it.
 
Sion said:
-snip-
Click to expand...
I don't have intimate knowledge here, I just don't think there have actually been patents for speedcubes up to this point.
You're perfectly justified in wanting to protect your work, but... I mean, would it even matter? Being Chinese companies, aren't MoYu, QiYi, Gans, Yuxin, etc. all a little outside of those rules?

I like to believe this community is small enough that corporate backstabbing isn't really an issue. Everything seems very friendly.
If some company comes out with a phone that's too similar to an iPhone, Apple will sue them on the spot. But when pictures showed the Valk 3's design being strikingly similar to the Yuexiao, MoYu was basically just like "I see what you did there..."
 
Is this just a bit of fun, or do you think you'll make money from this design?

Patents are expensive. Even if it were feasible, could you afford the time and money to get one? Would it be financially worth it for you? Then what are you going to do if someone infringes it? Can you afford to sue them?

If you're more concerned about getting credit than making money, why not just publish the design? If someone later takes your design and uses it, the world will know it was your invention, and what better credit could there be?
 
Not only is the patent fee itself expensive, patent lawyers are expensive. Patents are also usually country specific, so you could get a US patent, but that would only be recognised in the US, and countries that have IP treaties with the US.

You should be aware that publishing a patent means publicly publishing all of the details and specifics of your idea. That means anyone can look at how your your mechanism works and copy it and sell it, even in countries where your patent doesn't apply.

If you do want to go the patent route, the best thing to do would be to find a lawyer who specialises in intellectual property near you and ask for expert advice. Be prepared to pay though.

There is some level of protection for designs (copyright) that automatically happens, but the laws differ by country, and many countries (e.g. China) don't have any such protection.

Regarding protecting your ideas, you don't need a patent. The normal approach is to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the company before sharing your ideas.
 
like alpha said, you don't need to worry, i wouldn't buy a cube if qiyi just ripped you guys off im pretty sure noone will.
perks of being such a small community
 
AlexMaass said:
I think I've heard of some cube companies not patenting the whole mechanism, but rather certain parts of it, not completely sure so I'll ask a few cube companies about it(like for example if gans patented their dual screw spring thing or whatever)
Click to expand...

We would be extemely grateful if you could do that, this is one of the biggest things we were concerned about.
 
IamSpeedcubing said:
We would be extemely grateful if you could do that, this is one of the biggest things we were concerned about.
Click to expand...
thanks for the reminder to do it lol, I just asked a few brands now, I'll edit this post with what responses I get

Moyu: searched for "moyu patent" on facebook
https://i.gyazo.com/86633eda116e616d6cf065f55406feb0.png
Qiyi: searched for "qiyi patent" on facebook, lol this is interesting compared to the screenshot from moyu above, I don't know what to think
https://i.gyazo.com/e74fece458f81059732a3c32b1d16ca1.png'

Also, this is in China, so obviously things can differ
 
Last edited:
I'd also like to point point out that a US patent has no effect in china as you have to obtain a separate patent in China to have any legal backing there. that's the real reason why Chinese companies can just "copy" many foreign products because the companies don't patent in China.
 
shadowslice e said:
I'd also like to point point out that a US patent has no effect in china as you have to obtain a separate patent in China to have any legal backing there. that's the real reason why Chinese companies can just "copy" many foreign products because the companies don't patent in China.
Click to expand...
so I'm guessing it would be good to also get a patent in china too?
 
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