a long time ago

[totient]

For the Arisia party, cintyber picked up some cute Rubik's Cubes. Not real Rubik's Cubes, though; they were knockoffs, because the patent has expired.

Comments

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure the patent ever stopped knockoffs; I remember having a couple of different kinds of cube puzzles as a kid (one with plastic colors instead of stickers, one with symbols on the faces) and they definitely weren't
"Rubix" brand. Maybe the mechanism was different...

[palmwiz.livejournal.com]

We took one of them apart and the mechanism was the patented one.

[cogitationitis.livejournal.com]

You do know that the patent actually belongs to a former MIT engineer & Bostan-area resident, Nicholls? My dad used to work with him. He also invented the little plastic beeads that make Extra chewing gum work, and serve as a timed-release mechanism for many drugs.

[heliopsis.livejournal.com]

...But not a real Rubik's Cube, that's cruel.

[jasra]

They had funky designs too.