Do The Cube Part-3

First Patent

Rubik applied for his Hungarian patent in January 1975 and left his invention with a small toy making cooperative in Budapest. The patent approval finally came in early 1977 and the first Cubes appeared at the end of 1977. By this time, Erno Rubik was married.

Two other people applied for similar patents at about the same time as Rubik. Terutoshi Ishige applied a year after Rubik, for a Japanese patent on a very similar cube. An American, Larry Nichols, patented a cube before Rubik, held together with magnets. Nichols' toy was rejected by all toy companies, including the Ideal Toy Corporation, which later bought the rights to Rubik's Cube.Sales of the Rubik's Cube were sluggish until Hungarian businessman Tibor Laczi discovered the Cube. While having a coffee, he spied a waiter playing with the toy. Laczi an amateur mathematician was impressed. The next day he went to the state trading company, Konsumex, and asked permission to sell the Cube in the West.

Tibor Laczi on Meeting Erno Rubik

''When Rubik first walked into the room I felt like giving him some money,'' he says. ''He looked like a beggar. He was terribly dressed, and he had a cheap Hungarian cigarette hanging out of his mouth. But I knew I had a genius on my hands. I told him we could sell millions.'' - Tibor Laczi on meeting Erno Rubik

What's in a Name

Rubik's Cube was first called the Magic Cube (Buvuos Kocka) in Hungary.

Red Millionaire

Erno Rubik became the first self-made millionaire from the communist block. The eighties and Rubik's Cube went well together. Cubic Rubes (the name of cube fans) formed clubs to play and study solutions. A sixteen-year-old Vietnamese high school student from Los Angeles, Minh Thai won the world championship in Budapest (June 1982) by unscrambling a Cube in 22.95 seconds. The unofficial speed records may be ten seconds or less. Human experts now solve the puzzle in 24-28 moves on a regular basis.

Seven Towns Ltd. currently holds the rights to Rubik's Cube.

Thank-you Rubik!