After a years-long legal battle between Toronto-based Spin Master Toys and the maker of Greece’s V-Cube, an EU court found the shape and colours of the classic Rubik’s Cube never should have been registered as a European trademark in the first place. (The Logic)

Talking point: Spin Master acquired the classic puzzle game for US$50 million in 2021. The puzzle’s inventor, Hungary’s Ernő Rubik, began applying for patents in 1975, but they expired in the early 2000s. The toy has inspired world tournaments and sold millions of units in recent years. Greece’s Verdes Innovations asked the EU trademark office to strip Spin Master Toys U.K. of its trademark on the toy’s design in 2013. When the trademark office agreed, Spin Master took the fight to the EU general court. The court said the shape of the Rubik’s Cube design is essential to how it functions, and can’t be subject to trademark, as opposed to patents that protect inventions.