The Rubik’s Cube In A Nutshell
Background
Rubik’s cube is a toy puzzle designed by Ernö Rubik during the mid- 1970s. It is a cube- shaped toy consisting of smaller cube pieces, called “cubies” with 6 faces possessing contrasting colors. This rather primitive-looking phenomenon was exceptionally popular during the 1980s, and peaking 1980 and 1983 with around 200 million cubes sold worldwide. Even today sales continue to exceed 500,000 sales worldwide each year, consequently earning the title “the best-selling toy of all time”. Seen as an object of art, the Rubik’s Cube brilliance is perceived to reside in its ability to embody and symbolize the evident contrasts in the human conditions: simplicity and complexity, order and mayhem, bewilderment …show more content…
In 1857, the Irish mathematician Sir William Hamilton invented the Icosian puzzle. Around 1870, the famous 15 puzzle was introduced by Sam Lloyd. This puzzle consisted of 15 numerical tiles that were had to be placed in an orderly, coherent manner and became extremely popular during the 20th century. In 1883, French mathematician Edouard Lucas created the Tower of Hanoi puzzle. The puzzle comprised of three pegs and a number of discs with different sizes. The aim was to place the discs on the puzzles in the correct order.
A number of puzzles that involved colored square tiles and colored cubes preceded the Rubik’s cube. These devices include the Katzjammer and the Mayblox puzzle. The Mayblox puzzle was created by British mathematician Percy MacMahon in the early 1920s. In the 1960s, Parker Bothers introduced another cube puzzle toy type called Instant Insanity. The toy obtained a moderate level of popularity in the United States. Additionally, the 1970s brought along the Pyraminx, a toy that had movable pieces that were lined up according to …show more content…
In March 1970, approximately two years before Rubik patented his cube, a Canadian man named Larry Nichols invented a 2x2x2 “Puzzle with Pieces Rotatable in Groups” and filed a Canadian patent application for it. Nichols assigned his patent to his employer, Moleculon Research Corporation, who later sued Ideal Toys who bought it from Rubik. Nichols’ cube was maintained with magnets and was granted a patent on April of 1972. In 1982, Moleculon Research Corporation used the Ideal Toy Company and, in 1984, won the patent infringement suit in spite of Ideal Toys appealing the decision. However, the appeals court affirmed the judgment that only Rubik’s 2x2x2 Pocket Cube infringed on Nichols’s patent, but overturned the judgment on Rubik’s 3x3x3 Cube and ,so, seemingly a small number of cubes made the biggest difference.
Elsewhere, in Japan, Terutoshi Ishigi, a self-taught engineer and ironworks owner, filed for a Japanese patent for a nearly identical mechanism, in 1976, while Rubik’s patent application was being processed. However, luckily for Rubik, until 1999, when an amended Japanese patent law was enforced, Japan’s patent office granted patents for non-disclosed technology within Japan without requiring worldwide novelty, meaning Ishigi’s patent was deemed an independent reinvention at that
Background
Rubik’s cube is a toy puzzle designed by Ernö Rubik during the mid- 1970s. It is a cube- shaped toy consisting of smaller cube pieces, called “cubies” with 6 faces possessing contrasting colors. This rather primitive-looking phenomenon was exceptionally popular during the 1980s, and peaking 1980 and 1983 with around 200 million cubes sold worldwide. Even today sales continue to exceed 500,000 sales worldwide each year, consequently earning the title “the best-selling toy of all time”. Seen as an object of art, the Rubik’s Cube brilliance is perceived to reside in its ability to embody and symbolize the evident contrasts in the human conditions: simplicity and complexity, order and mayhem, bewilderment …show more content…
In 1857, the Irish mathematician Sir William Hamilton invented the Icosian puzzle. Around 1870, the famous 15 puzzle was introduced by Sam Lloyd. This puzzle consisted of 15 numerical tiles that were had to be placed in an orderly, coherent manner and became extremely popular during the 20th century. In 1883, French mathematician Edouard Lucas created the Tower of Hanoi puzzle. The puzzle comprised of three pegs and a number of discs with different sizes. The aim was to place the discs on the puzzles in the correct order.
A number of puzzles that involved colored square tiles and colored cubes preceded the Rubik’s cube. These devices include the Katzjammer and the Mayblox puzzle. The Mayblox puzzle was created by British mathematician Percy MacMahon in the early 1920s. In the 1960s, Parker Bothers introduced another cube puzzle toy type called Instant Insanity. The toy obtained a moderate level of popularity in the United States. Additionally, the 1970s brought along the Pyraminx, a toy that had movable pieces that were lined up according to …show more content…
In March 1970, approximately two years before Rubik patented his cube, a Canadian man named Larry Nichols invented a 2x2x2 “Puzzle with Pieces Rotatable in Groups” and filed a Canadian patent application for it. Nichols assigned his patent to his employer, Moleculon Research Corporation, who later sued Ideal Toys who bought it from Rubik. Nichols’ cube was maintained with magnets and was granted a patent on April of 1972. In 1982, Moleculon Research Corporation used the Ideal Toy Company and, in 1984, won the patent infringement suit in spite of Ideal Toys appealing the decision. However, the appeals court affirmed the judgment that only Rubik’s 2x2x2 Pocket Cube infringed on Nichols’s patent, but overturned the judgment on Rubik’s 3x3x3 Cube and ,so, seemingly a small number of cubes made the biggest difference.
Elsewhere, in Japan, Terutoshi Ishigi, a self-taught engineer and ironworks owner, filed for a Japanese patent for a nearly identical mechanism, in 1976, while Rubik’s patent application was being processed. However, luckily for Rubik, until 1999, when an amended Japanese patent law was enforced, Japan’s patent office granted patents for non-disclosed technology within Japan without requiring worldwide novelty, meaning Ishigi’s patent was deemed an independent reinvention at that