What happened to the cubeless.de shop?

[freshcuber.de]

Hi, again we see an online cube shop leaving Germany for legal reasons. On cubeless.de you see a GAME OVER picture and the german announcement: "Wichtige Information: Aus rechtlichen Gründen (Markenschutz) haben wir uns entschieden, den Verkauf komplett einzustellen. Falls du noch Fragen zu deiner Bestellung hast, kannst du weiterhin unseren Kundendienst erreichen. Vielen Dank für dein Verständnis".

Translation:
Important information: For legal reasons (trademark protection) we have decided to stop selling completely. If you have any questions about your order, you can still contact our customer service. Thank you very much for your understanding

I thought these Rubix / Seventoys or whatever debates about patents and "3d trademark protection" were over after several courts decisions. And now this. It was not a shop of 2 young kids, but it was run by a company called Webcraft GmbH. The swiss website cubeless.ch (Webcraft AG) is still operating.

So what might be the reason? And why is the situation for web shops in Germany different from other countries? Does anyone here know?

 

[kubesolver]

I am not sure but in general in Switzerland the protection of small business against bullying by huge companies is much better than in EU.

 

[qwr]

Have you asked them?

 

[freshcuber.de]

Have you asked them?

Others have. The answer was no more detailled than what they wrote on the web site.

 

[qwr]

Others have. The answer was no more detailled than what they wrote on the web site.

I don't know how much access you have to national court records (here in the US we have this outdated system called PACER that locks documents behind paywalls) but try looking up the company owners or company in court records.

 

[Flowkap]

I did write them as well. The answer was not .... Satisfying. I even specifically asked with reference of the latest court results.

Maybe they just backed off although they wouldn't have needed? Looks like the Switzerland shop is more like the main and maybe they rather ditch the German shop than even risking a lawsuit.

Big companies try even if it's not rightful.

 

[Thom S.]

The obvious problem is what I'll do with my cubeless 10€ Gift Card they gave me.

 

[qwr]

I did write them as well. The answer was not .... Satisfying. I even specifically asked with reference of the latest court results.

Maybe they just backed off although they wouldn't have needed? Looks like the Switzerland shop is more like the main and maybe they rather ditch the German shop than even risking a lawsuit.

Big companies try even if it's not rightful.

If the Swiss shop is the main one, it is possible they wanted to exit the German market but needed an excuse to do so. Pure speculation.

 

[White KB]

Das ist sehr traurig! Wie kann Rubiks dies machen?
Nicht sie wieder...

*Ahem*
(Sorry. If you want it in English it's translated below. I'm just trying to practice my German since it's a German shop...)

That's so sad! How can Rubik's do this?
Not them again...

 

[Flowkap]

I have ordered at the new euro-cubes.com store. Support was absolutely great! Answers within hours, and they had the stuff I wanted in stock (cubikon hadn't).

I know it's super new and afaik hosted by a very young guy, but the experience was really good. As I'm new to cubing ordering a bunch of stuff from overseas wasn't an option due to high transport fees and import taxes (Speedcubeshop or dailyPuzzles etc.).