# Rubiks owner warns on fakes



## Ron (Oct 15, 2008)

http://www.toynewsmag.com/news/30411/Rubiks-owner-warns-on-fakes


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## CAT13 (Oct 15, 2008)

Ron said:


> http://www.toynewsmag.com/news/30411/Rubiks-owner-warns-on-fakes



"And make sure you don't buy those awesome DIY cubes that cost less and are, like, six hundred times better! You're kids don't want that for the holidays!"


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## Vulosity (Oct 15, 2008)

> “In this country, if you are offered Rubik’s Cubes which do not carry the Rubik’s logo, or are not in the ‘official’ packaging developed by ourselves in co-operation with our UK distributor Drumond Park Games, we would ask you to contact us, so that we can consider taking immediate legal action further up the supply pipeline.



Does this mean that Chinese DIY's are illegal?


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## Unknown.soul (Oct 15, 2008)

Puzzleproz might be taken down since it's based in the US.


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## ThePizzaGuy92 (Oct 15, 2008)

If Chinese assembly cubes are illegal, I'll be put away for life, haha


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## CAT13 (Oct 15, 2008)

Vulosity said:


> > “In this country, if you are offered Rubik’s Cubes which do not carry the Rubik’s logo, or are not in the ‘official’ packaging developed by ourselves in co-operation with our UK distributor Drumond Park Games, we would ask you to contact us, so that we can consider taking immediate legal action further up the supply pipeline.
> 
> 
> 
> Does this mean that Chinese DIY's are illegal?



If you call smuggling illegal...  jk

EDIT: and I think it is really funny how they are saying stuff like: We want to make sure that you get the highest quality puzzles... Yeah, I think it's just for the moolah!

EDIT 2: "Throughout the year, we do everything within our power to stop shipments of counterfeit cubes at the docks – with considerable success, I might add."
SO THAT'S WHY I DIDN'T GET MY CUBES!!! jk


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## Rabid (Oct 15, 2008)

As long as it's not a "Rubik's" cube in "Rubik's" packaging it's legal? I assume twisty puzzles of other brands are perfectly fine.


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## fanwuq (Oct 15, 2008)

Crap!
Does that mean cube4you, tribox, 9spuzzle will be out of business? 
The article is lying! type A and C and joy and edison are so much better than Rubik's!

We should just do something like the Boston Tea Party and throw all the Rubik's cubes into the sea and demand our Chinese DIYs!


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## Escher (Oct 15, 2008)

I seriously doubt that Seventowns will do anything about DIYs. because they dont advertise themselves as 'rubiks cubes', and because they are built slightly differently, they cant/wont be bothered to do anything about them. 
It would be a different story however if your cube was delivered in a box that said "rubics coob" on it...


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## Ethan Rosen (Oct 15, 2008)

I think that since the chinese DIYs actually have differences in the mechanism that have a purpose other than to make it different, they shouldn't be touched by any copyright


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## waffle=ijm (Oct 15, 2008)

if rubik's wanted just to make profit, they should just make all their molds the best and surpass every Chinese DIY. its worth the money that way and they could stop complaining about being outmatched by other DIYs.


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## brunson (Oct 16, 2008)

US patents are only good for 17 years, I thought. What claim do that have to take legal action? The trademark will stand as long as they use it, but rights on the design should have expired before I graduated college.


> Seven Towns holds the worldwide rights in the trademarks, copyrights and the overall image of the Rubik’s Cube and has warned both retailers and shoppers to beware of fakes this Christmas.


Trademark on the image? Seriously? I'm calling Shennanigan's. That can't be enforceable.


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## AvGalen (Oct 16, 2008)

I remember something about the "image" of the cube.

Basically they have the rights to the Rubiks brandname and also to the cube with the 6 colors (white, red, green, orange, blue, yellow) in that specific order. That is one of the reasons Eastsheen doesn't make 3x3x3's and has purple stickers instead of orange


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## Unknown.soul (Oct 16, 2008)

> has purple stickers instead of orange


Recently they made Eastsheens with orange stickers, Puzzleproz sells them.


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## qinbomaster (Oct 16, 2008)

perhaps that's why many diys come unstickered... i really dont know, but lmao at “Around this time of year, every year, we remind both the trade and the consumer to watch out for *sub-standard* copycat cubes,” since diys are pretty much standard speedcubing equipment. white unstickered diys are probably okay. probably the only things that are in danger on the really really bad cubes you find in like chinatown for a $1 and the painted dianshengs; however, since their plastics are white, does that exempt them from the copyright since all rubik's are black?


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## PCwizCube (Oct 16, 2008)

qinbomaster said:


> perhaps that's why many diys come unstickered... i really dont know, but lmao at “Around this time of year, every year, we remind both the trade and the consumer to watch out for *sub-standard* copycat cubes,” since diys are pretty much standard speedcubing equipment. white unstickered diys are probably okay. probably the only things that are in danger on the really really bad cubes you find in like chinatown for a $1 and the painted dianshengs; however, since their plastics are white, does that exempt them from the copyright *since all rubik's are black?*


No no no no no. White Rubiks.com DIY
http://www.rubiks.com/Shop/Products/3x3 White Assembly Kit.aspx


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## CymbalMonkey (Oct 16, 2008)

have you ever taken apart a cube? they are all the same.


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## DcF1337 (Oct 16, 2008)

This is just ridiculous. I mean, good DIYs are easily better than storeboughts in general. Instead of trying to take their competitors down, Rubik's should just make better quality cubes. I will go on strike if Rubik's takes down my precious Cube4you!

Okay, maybe not going on a strike, but I'd be pretty darn pissed. Leave them alone, Rubik's. Please.


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## DavidWoner (Oct 16, 2008)

CymbalMonkey said:


> have you ever taken apart a cube? they are all the same.



i beg to differ:
http://www.cube4you.com/410_White-DIYKit-3x3x3-Cube-III-(a).html

also I am pretty sure that the springs vs. rivets is enough to differentiate storeboughts from chinese diy's but then there is the issue of rubik's diys. i dont know, this is stupid, I might right an angry letter.


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## darkzelkova (Oct 16, 2008)

Soon enough, there is going to be a huge bust at a tournament and dozens of cubers will be taken to jail. It's gonna suck.


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## Fobo911 (Oct 16, 2008)

darkzelkova said:


> Soon enough, there is going to be a huge bust at a tournament and dozens of cubers will be taken to jail. It's gonna suck.



And soon, the FBI will be at all of our houses, arresting us for having DIY cubes.


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## DcF1337 (Oct 16, 2008)

darkzelkova said:


> Soon enough, there is going to be a huge bust at a tournament and dozens of cubers will be taken to jail. It's gonna suck.



That's just dumb. It's just pieces of plastic, springs and screws! Rubik's is willing to go so far and take legal actions against companies that produce superior and cheaper cubes?



Fobo911 said:


> And soon, the FBI will be at all of our houses, arresting us for having DIY cubes.




LOL, that made me laugh. They can't possibly do that to us, or can they? :O


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## Neroflux (Oct 16, 2008)

haha, imagine cubers all around the world banging out angry letters to rubik's. that would make them do something wouldn't they?


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## ThePizzaGuy92 (Oct 16, 2008)

I kind of understand that Rubik's would want to monopolize the puzzle cube industry, but I don't see the FBI pounding on our doors anytime soon  they probably have better things to do.


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## Fobo911 (Oct 16, 2008)

DcF1337 said:


> darkzelkova said:
> 
> 
> > Soon enough, there is going to be a huge bust at a tournament and dozens of cubers will be taken to jail. It's gonna suck.
> ...



Hmm, why don't we ask the U.S. Supreme Court if this FBI idea is constitutional? 



ThePizzaGuy92 said:


> I kind of understand that Rubik's would want to monopolize the puzzle cube industry, but I don't see the FBI pounding on our doors anytime soon  they probably have better things to do.



Well, according to http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/famcases.htm , I could say that this case could be considered as a future "Public Corruption" famous case, since the owner does not want copycats cubes to corrupt the public.


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## Erik (Oct 16, 2008)

Isn't this just a marketing message? Of course Rubiks doesn't want people to buy cheap clone cubes instead of their own (how good or bad they might be).
To me it just looks like a strategical message to get people to buy Rubik's brand around christmas to make more money. I totally understand that.
It seems impossible to ban out and intercept all fake cubes being shipped from China. I think there is no reason to be worried we can't buy our loved DIY's from cube4you, 9spuzzles or tribox.


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## fcwy1 (Oct 16, 2008)

So are we all going to get arrested for buying good quality and cheaper cubes just because a company wants money?
ridiculous!


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## sjoerdtheone (Oct 16, 2008)

omg stop panicing!
no one is gonna get arrested for ordering some cubes. maybe the factory owners in china are gonna get arrested or forced to stop the production. and i dont consider that likely.
By the way, I think rubik's cubes are superior in *quality* but may not turn so well.


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## Jai (Oct 16, 2008)

Instead of passing off all of the other cubes as fakes, Rubik's should recognize them as competition, because they're selling better than Rubik's products, in the speedcubing community. 

The warning is still valid, though, if they're talking about dollar store cubes (they did say *sub-standard* copycat cubes). In that sense, Dave Hedley Jones is just telling us that you're better off with the real thing than a cheap, horrible cube.


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## Dave Campbell (Oct 16, 2008)

Ron, I'd be interested in reading your point of view on this article/statement for several reasons. First, you posted the article. Second, you know David better than most people in the community. And third, if memory serves me correctly, you are a fan of the "alternative" DIY cubes. 

How do you see this statement affecting the community, affecting individual cubers, and affecting anyone selling the non Rubik DIY cubes? 

As you can see from this thread, there are a lot of questions that come from reading that article. It is best to get some definitive answers before rumours turn to "facts". But it does seem difficult, to the layman, to decipher the marketing answers from the legal answers.


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## Stefan (Oct 16, 2008)

Can you guys just stop pretending this is news and hasn't been going on for years? Geez.


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## Lt-UnReaL (Oct 16, 2008)

Erik said:


> Isn't this just a marketing message? Of course Rubiks doesn't want people to buy cheap clone cubes instead of their own (how good or bad they might be).
> To me it just looks like a strategical message to get people to buy Rubik's brand around christmas to make more money. I totally understand that.
> It seems impossible to ban out and intercept all fake cubes being shipped from China. I think there is no reason to be worried we can't buy our loved DIY's from cube4you, 9spuzzles or tribox.


Exactly my thoughts as I was reading it.


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## DavidWoner (Oct 16, 2008)

StefanPochmann said:


> Can you guys just stop pretending this is news and hasn't been going on for years? Geez.



yeah its not very surprising really. also he says:



that guy said:


> "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.



I would also like to point out his use of the phrase sub-standard, which taken literally means that the China DIY's are not a problem(except for the A2's of course).


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## Kian (Oct 16, 2008)

it's called competition. if they have a problem with "alternative cubes", they should make a better one. end of story.


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## CAT13 (Oct 16, 2008)

ThePizzaGuy92 said:


> I kind of understand that Rubik's would want to monopolize the puzzle cube industry...



Monopolies are illegal in the US  so if they did decide to take down all other companies, then the government would have to step in... and if that happened, then cubing would gain a little recognition because the government would have to stop a puzzle making monopoly lol. yeah, right


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## rjohnson_8ball (Oct 16, 2008)

I took there point as, "Watch out for crappy cubes this Christmas! We don't want the reputation of Rubik's Cube to be tarnished! We are proud of the quality we give to our fantastic puzzle."


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## Lucas Garron (Oct 16, 2008)

CAT13 said:


> Monopolies are illegal in the US


But exclusive rights (i.e. patents, trademarks...) aren't; in fact, the government administers them.
There's just anti-trust legislation intended to prevent monopolies from becoming too dangerous for the consumers. Some monopolies, note, are actually required (utilities, post, etc...).


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## fanwuq (Oct 17, 2008)

sjoerdtheone said:


> omg stop panicing!
> no one is gonna get arrested for ordering some cubes. maybe the factory owners in china are gonna get arrested or forced to stop the production. and i dont consider that likely.
> By the way, I think rubik's cubes are superior in *quality* but may not turn so well.



Everything in your post is a joke. How can Rubik's arrest anyone in China?
Just about everything in China are "fakes" that are better quality than the originals.


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## EmersonHerrmann (Oct 17, 2008)

I'll kill anyone who reports DIYs or eastsheen cubes  This is a pretty funny thing to think about when almost every single person at every single official rubik's cube competition uses a non-Rubik's 3x3 xD


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## Carson (Oct 17, 2008)

I think I'm gonna start posting here via a proxy just in case. And putting Rubik's brand stickers on my DIY's so perhaps no one will notice they are "copycats."


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## Ton (Oct 17, 2008)

DcF1337 said:


> This is just ridiculous. I mean, good DIYs are easily better than storeboughts in general. Instead of trying to take their competitors down, Rubik's should just make better quality cubes. I will go on strike if Rubik's takes down my precious Cube4you!
> 
> Okay, maybe not going on a strike, but I'd be pretty darn pissed. Leave them alone, Rubik's. Please.



First Rubik's DIY are very good, I prepare cubes with Rama and many top cubers consider them as the best. Until now I did not find any cube better as the Rubik. 

Second , Cube4you or any other online shop is still small, any small shop/retailer has not the main attention. Still it is illegal to import or sell fake cubes, the focus is ofcourse on big shipments , not the one you buy, but in theory it is still illegal. 

Any shop/retailer that is in a country with an official distributor must be aware that the Rubik owners can take measures,


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## AvGalen (Oct 17, 2008)

Could you tell us on what ground the Rubik owners can take measures?
Did I understand correctly that the mechanism and general idea behind the 3x3x3 cube puzzle is no longer protected?
And did I understand correctly that instead now the "image" of the cube and the colorscheme is protected?


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## Rama (Oct 17, 2008)

I use Rubik's 3x3x3's from the beginning, I use the BOY colourscheme and I even have a Rubik's Studio logo on my Rubik's centercap.
Rubik's!
*Note: Rubik's (DIY) cubes have a logo marked in one of their six centercaps.

From Cubesmith:
At the request Seven Town Ltd., 
to prevent possible legal issues 
we will no longer be offering 
Rubik's Studio Logos


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## TimMc (Oct 17, 2008)

This explains why they finally caught up with the studio logos over at Cubesmith :-(

Tim.


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## ThePizzaGuy92 (Oct 18, 2008)

Rama said:


> From Cubesmith:
> At the request Seven Town Ltd.,
> to prevent possible legal issues
> we will no longer be offering
> Rubik's Studio Logos



nooooo!!! I only have one logo left! [and it suddenly skyrocketed in value ]
those were my favorite


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## supercube (Oct 18, 2008)

its trademark issues not copyright. end of discussion. the whole thing is grey area but for the most part anyone who pretends to be a rubik's product or is leading you to believe somehow that it is a rubik's product when it is not is infringing on the other persons rights to own the brand. period. the puzzle pro's are very close to the color scheme but it clearly states in every listing that "this is not a rubik's brand product" so they are safe. anyone in china is immune cause the government is setup that way. thats why they stop it when it gets to the destination country.

as for cubesmith not selling the logo's anymore. its a shame you never asked a lawyer if your ok cause there are ways to go about it where you can be exempted from the law. maybe I should make a bunch of logo's, I'm not scared. I'll do it.


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## daniel0731ex (Feb 14, 2009)

i think that you guys misunderestood...

what they are saying is that we need to beware of fake RUBIK'S rubik's cubes, not all of the cubes beside rubik's are illegle. because i have actually seen fake RUBIK'S cubes is taiwan


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## d4m4s74 (Feb 14, 2009)

DIYs are no problem

the patent over the cores is expired and because DIY cubes are sold unassembled it doesn't break the image rules (read that one somewhere else on the forum)

the cubes I found in a store nearby aren't a problem either because the stickers have numbers on them and the colors are different

only cubes sold assembled with that color scheme without markings on the cube are illegal (and most of those, are low quality as far as I know)


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## Unknown.soul (Feb 14, 2009)

d4m4s74 said:


> (and most of those, are low quality as far as I know)


Type Ds and Dianshengs are not low-quality. The stickers/paint is, but that is remedied with new PVC stickers.


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## d4m4s74 (Feb 14, 2009)

Unknown.soul said:


> d4m4s74 said:
> 
> 
> > (and most of those, are low quality as far as I know)
> ...


that´s why I said most


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