WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY – ADV. ERAN PRESENTI

“One of the key issues in intellectual property law is the registration of trademarks in order to protect the other intellectual property rights of the brand owner and to prevent the expiry of other IP rights which have expiry dates. This issue was the subject of proceedings brought before the European (EUIPO) and Israeli Trademarks Registrars, (by two different applicants) seeking to cancel the 3D trademarks registrations of the Seven Towns / Rubik company relating to a game known in Israel as the “Hungarian Cube” and worldwide as the “Rubik’s Cube”.

The Registrar of Trademarks in Israel accepted the motion filed by Extreme Toys Ltd. (represented by our firm), asking that the registration of three 3D trademarks registered in 2012 on the format of the well-known game the “Rubik’s Cube” be revoked. The British company SEVEN TOWNS, which at the time owned the intellectual property rights to the Rubik’s Cube game, had registered the format as a 3D trademark in 2012 as a preemptive move aimed at preventing its use by other manufacturers, after the patents and designs that were registered in the 1980s had expired, making the Rubik’s Cube toy in the public domain.

The Israeli Registrar of Patents and Trademarks, Mr. Ophir Alon, ruled that the format of the well-known and colorful shape of the three-dimensional game called the “Rubik’s Cube” was not strong enough to give it protection against “copycat” versions. SEVEN TOWNS lost the legal battle and various manufacturers are now allowed to produce the toy and offer it on the market at equal prices for all”.

Full disclosure: An appeal on the ruling is pending before the Tel Aviv District Court.