Is Rubik's Cube a Trademark?

According to the judgment of 25 November 2014 (Case T-450/09) of the Court of Justice of the European Union, "the registration of the shape of the Rubik's Cube as a EU trademark is valid. The graphical representation of the cube does not involve a technical solution that prevents it to be protected as a trademark. "

The ruling solves a dispute arose as a result a registration request in front of the the application filed  in 1996, by Seven Towns a British company that manages the intellectual property rights related to the "Rubik's Cube" - for the registration as a Community trade mark of the three-dimensional shape of the cube to "puzzle in three dimensions.

In 1999 Seven Towns registered the famous cubes as a European trade mark. In 2006 Simba Toy, a German company that manufactures toys, filed for declaration of invalidity of the trademark.

According to the Court, the thick black lines that are part of that structure and appearing on the representations of the cube drawing a grid within them do not make any reference to a rotation capacity of the individual elements of the cube and, therefore, are not a technical function.

Indeed, the ability of rotation of the vertical and horizontal bands of the Rubik's cube is not derived from or black lines nor the grid structure, but by an internal mechanism of the cube that is invisible on its graphical representations. Consequently, the registration of the shape of the Rubik's Cube as a EU trademark can not be denied on the ground that it incorporates a technical function.

The Court also notes that the mark in question does not entitle the owner to prevent third parties to market all kinds of puzzles in three dimensions with a capacity of rotation, since the monopoly of commercialization of the owner is limited to the puzzle three dimensions having the shape of a cube whose faces are posted grid structure.

Finally, the Court considers that the cubic structure grid stand considerably from the representations of other puzzles in three dimensions on the market. This structure is therefore equipped with a distinctive character that enables consumers to identify the producer of the goods for which the mark is registered.

The ruling can now be appealed before the Court of Justice within two months of its service.

Linked Out.

The most striking aspect in the strict regulation of the new Italian code of professional conduct, which will be valid from December 15, is the fact that it quite clearly excludes the possibility for almost as many as 100.000 Italian lawyers to use not only of Facebook Pages or online advertising, but even LinkedIn.

There seems to be little room for misunderstandings. In fact the new wording of article 35 clearly states that online communication for law firms shall be possible "only on websites with their own domain name without possibility of redirecting information from another website."

This rule in not only surprising because clearly out of time with respect to the current digital communication context, but also because it punishes inappropriate behavior, like the use of local directories or even Google Maps.

The new Italian professional code of conduct seems to preclude the possibility for a law firm to defend and improve their reputation through the use of digital media and comparison with users.

While other professionals such as architects and designers show a steady increase in the Net as a community space to create and animate discussion groups not only for professionals, the new Italian professional code of conduct limits competition within the legal profession and transparency towards citizens.

The Battle over the Next Great Disruptive Technology

By Francesca Filipo and Martina Clochiatti


A 3D printer turns a blueprint into a physical object, built up layer by layer with a computer aided design program (CAD) simply running on your desktop computer.

Since 3D printers turned 3D printing professional services into low cost and on demand facilities, a wide range of products can be easily designed and manufactured at home. Any type of design can be found on the net where 3D printing communities share their files. No matter how it is created, once the CAD design exists it can be widely distributed just like any other computer file.

In many ways today’s 3D printing community resembles the open source community of the early 1990s. There is no central institution giving directions: users themselves invest time and thought in the evolutionary process. They are a relatively small, technically proficient group sharing their creations.

Popular websites like thingverse.com or shapeways.com where anyone may upload and download the design of a number of items were immediately facing IP rights infringement claims.

Recently, Moulinsart, which owns the rights to the cartoon Tintin, served Thingiverse with a Millennium Digital Copyright Act takedown notice. Thingiverse has been forced to remove a design individually developed by an user and freely inspired to Tintin character.

The same happened for the famous Star Wars Yoda character that, despite being turned into different objects, still represents a copyright infringement. The bust of Yoda is not something that you can duplicate or re-elaborate: “Even when designers take an object like that and change it, it's still legally protected”, as Disney legal team said.

Copyright, designs, patents and registered trademarks are the four IP classes that may be infringed by using a 3D printer. Many of these issues have already been discussed with regard to file-shared music and movies. Although 3D printing of copyrighted objects at home may constitute an infringement, the copyright will become increasingly impractical or impossible to enforce.

Technically, a consumer who copies a work by printing an already existing object will be liable for copyright infringement unless the consumer has permission from the copyright owner or only privately uses the printed object.

In this context the majors industries are trying to fight back the new digital era developments by strengthening IP rights, however it is undeniable that at some point a compromise will be necessary.