Rubik's Cube puzzled after losing EU trademark battle; Guardian, 11/10/16

Rebecca Smithers, Guardian; Rubik's Cube puzzled after losing EU trademark battle:

"...[O]n 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.

But the court ruled that the EU trademark representing the shape of the Rubik’s Cube was invalid. The ruling has ramifications for the game’s various licensed manufacturers, including John Adams in the UK, which could face competition from mass-produced, cheaper imitations."