The shape of the Rubik’s cube cannot be registered as a 3D trademark

The shape of the Rubik’s cube cannot be registered as a 3D trademark

The recent ECJ ruling regarding the Rubik’s Cube solidifies the case law concerning the registration of 3D trademarks.

The company Seven Towers, that manages Rubik’s Cube’s intellectual property rights, registered the shape of the Rubik’s Cube as a 3D European Union trademark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in 1999. This trademark protection was later challenged by the company Simba Toys before the European Union Court of Justice (ECJ), after the EUIPO and the General Court dismissed its lawsuit.

Recently, the EJC adopted a decision and ruled that the shape of the Rubik’s Cube alone is not enough to protect it from being copied, since the registration of the shape at issue potentially covers every 3D puzzle the elements of which make up the shape of a ‘3x3x3’ cube. The Rubik’s Cube shape offers simply too much functionality, namely its rotating capability that changes its shape and which disables the possibility to trademark the shape of the ‘3x3x3’ cube itself.

If the registration of such a ‘3x3x3’ cube was allowed, without applying for registration also of the description of the way in which the puzzle operates, the scope of the protection arising from the registration would be broadened to cover every type of puzzle of a similar shape, regardless of the principles by which it functions. This would make it possible for the proprietor of the trademark to extend its monopoly to the characteristics of goods that perform the function of the shape in question and other, similar functions.

The ECJ issued a similar ruling in 2010 in the case of Lego bricks case no. C‑48/09 P and Phillips case no. C‑299/99 where the ECJ also expressly stated that a registration of the 3D trademark cannot be used to confer a potentially everlasting monopoly on a useful product configuration. For such cases, companies have the possibility of registering a patent.