The legality of non Rubik's branded cube in the United States..

prostx23 said:
... does that mean that all non Rubik's brand cubes, speedcubes, are in fact illegal here in the US?
Click to expand...

Seven Towns seems to believe so. Other people disagree. I think it would take a good high-profile court case going all the way to the Supreme Court to really find out the answer. In the meantime, whoever puts the most muscle behind legal proceedings wins.
 
The police just broke my door down looking for my stash...They never found it though, underneath the loose floorboards.
 
I think it's pretty stupid; if rubik's wants to try and compete, they can go ahead. They already have a major portion of marketshare just from those who aren't into rubik's really/ people getting started.
 
Rubik's patent is expired, so they can not prevent people from selling knock off 3x3x3s. I believe they do claim copyright on the image of the 3x3x3 though. So, I'm honestly not really sure how that works. I believe that probably, no one has ever decided to go to court with it.

By the way, the case in that article is almost certainly talking about COUNTERFEIT rubik's cubes, which are actually being portrayed as being of the Rubik's brand. The mere fact that no known cube company went out of business around the time of that article would lend some credence to that idea.
 
Last edited:
Zarxrax said:
By the way, the case in that article is almost certainly talking about COUNTERFEIT rubik's cubes, which are actually being portrayed as being of the Rubik's brand.
Click to expand...

Have you ever seen one like that? I think they're always just called "Magic Cube", never "Rubik's Cube", and don't try to appear to be original Rubik's. I believe a big and indeed legitimate reason to get those cubes off the market is their poor quality, giving uneducated people a bad experience and possibly the impression that Rubik's quality sucks.

“Around this time of year, every year, we remind both the trade and the consumer to watch out for sub-standard copycat cubes,” said David Hedley Jones, Senior Vice President at Seven Towns.
 
Last edited:
David Hedley Jones said:
Around this time of year, every year, we remind both the trade and the consumer to watch out for sub-standard copycat cubes
Click to expand...

I bought about a dozen Rubik brand cubes for modding and the worst one required almost all my arm strength to turn.
How much worse can they get? By touching these KOs you get arthritis instantly?
 
DavidWoner said:
Doesn't the Rubik's trademark specify certain hues of each of the colors?
Click to expand...

From the trademark office:

Goods and Services IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: licensing of intellectual property. FIRST USE: 19981100. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19981100 Mark Drawing Code (2) DESIGN ONLY Design Search Code 26.19.04 - Cubes (geometric) Serial Number 75105330 Filing Date May 2, 1996 Current Filing Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1B Published for Opposition September 9, 1997 Registration Number 2285794 Registration Date October 12, 1999 Owner (REGISTRANT) SEVEN TOWNS LIMITED CORPORATION UNITED KINGDOM 7 Lambton Place London W11 2SH ENGLAND Attorney of Record Anthony R Barkume Prior Registrations 1242974;1265094 Description of Mark The mark consists of a black cube having nine color patches on each of its six faces with the color patches on each face being the same and consisting of the colors red, white, blue, green, yellow and orange. The drawing is lined for the colors red and green. The remaining colors -- white, blue, yellow, and orange -- do not appear in the drawing, but are claimed as a feature of the mark. Type of Mark SERVICE MARK Register PRINCIPAL Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20091013. Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 20091013 Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

And another one:

Goods and Services IC 028. US 022. G & S: Three Dimensional Puzzles. FIRST USE: 19800101. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19800101 Mark Drawing Code (2) DESIGN ONLY Design Search Code 21.01.25 - Airplanes, paper; Arcade games; Banks, toy; Darts; Disc, toy flying; Jack-in-the-box; Jacks (game); Noisemakers; Paper airplanes; Pinball machines; Rocking horse; Roulette wheels; Sand boxes (toys); Sand toys; Slot machines; Video game (handheld); Video game machines; Yoyos (yo-yos)
26.19.04 - Cubes (geometric)
29.05.01 - Red or pink (Multiple colors used on the entire goods)
29.05.03 - Blue (multiple colors used on the entire goods)
29.05.06 - Green (Multiple colors used on the entire goods)
29.05.07 - Orange (Multiple colors used on the entire goods)
29.05.08 - Yellow or gold (Multiple colors used on the entire goods)
29.05.09 - White (Multiple colors used on the entire goods)
29.05.11 - Black (Multiple colors used on the entire goods) Serial Number 73358308 Filing Date April 5, 1982 Current Filing Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Published for Opposition November 1, 1983 Registration Number 1265094 Registration Date January 24, 1984 Owner (REGISTRANT) CBS Inc. CORPORATION NEW YORK 51 W. 52nd St. New York NEW YORK 10019(LAST LISTED OWNER) SEVEN TOWNS LTD. CORPORATION ASSIGNEE OF UNITED KINGDOM 7 LAMBTON PLACE LONDON W11 2SH ENGLAND
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED Attorney of Record Anthony R Barkume Description of Mark THE MARK CONSISTS OF A BLACK CUBE HAVING NINE COLOR PATCHES ON EACH OF ITS SIX FACES WITH THE COLOR PATCHES ON EACH FACE BEING THE SAME AND CONSISTS OF THE COLORS RED, WHITE, BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW AND ORANGE. THE DRAWING IS LINED FOR THE COLORS RED, GREEN, ORANGE, BLUE AND YELLOW. Type of Mark TRADEMARK Register PRINCIPAL-2(F) Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20040221. Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 20040221 Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

However, trademark enforcement is slightly different than patent enforcement.
 
Stefan said:
Have you ever seen one like that? I think they're always just called "Magic Cube", never "Rubik's Cube", and don't try to appear to be original Rubik's. I believe a big and indeed legitimate reason to get those cubes off the market is their poor quality, giving uneducated people a bad experience and possibly the impression that Rubik's quality sucks.
Click to expand...

I've seen many websites use the Rubik's name for KO cubes but it's usually not printed on the actual cube. However, the cheap Chinese clocks actually have "Rubik's clock" printed on them.
 
cube-o-holic said:
I bought about a dozen Rubik brand cubes for modding and the worst one required almost all my arm strength to turn.
How much worse can they get? By touching these KOs you get arthritis instantly?
Click to expand...

No, dollar store cubes usually don't just turn like crap but also break easily (thin brittle plastic). Many Rubik's turn badly (some do turn very well!), but at least they don't break. The typical non-speedcuber out there doesn't care that much about how fast they turn, but they do get pissed off when they break.
 
Thank you for clearly that up.
Just to be clear I'm not faulting Rubik brand cube for being brittle but I dropped my 1st one once and a corner broke off.
Just thought it was ironic. I've never experienced problems like this from them since, I guess I was just unlucky.
 
Well, of course they can be can be damaged if treated badly, and occasionally the production may fail. But the usual dollar store ones break much more easily, normal turning might break them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

abunickabhi
Legality of Non-plain MBLD mat "user supplied"
Replies
12
Views
3,316
Harrychink
H
bluecubing
Is this comp legal
Replies
12
Views
965
bldcuber314
bldcuber314
eeeeeeeee
is this clock wca legal
Replies
11
Views
1,416
Pyraminxspeed
Pyraminxspeed
Eric4112
Is the Shengshou clock comp legal
Replies
5
Views
898
Eric4112
Eric4112
Shrek
Is my cube comp legal?
Replies
6
Views
1,027
Lord_Oscar
Lord_Oscar
Back
Top